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The recent Sars outbreak may have helped boost cigarette sales, according to the executive director of the Tobacco Institute of Hong Kong, Peter Tam.
However, he said yesterday an aggressive publicity campaign by the institute and stricter action by customs officials against the contraband trade also played roles in the 3.6 per cent rise in sales for the first half of this year.
``We are, of course, uncertain whether the rise in sales was due to our anti-counterfeit and contraband campaign, action by customs officials or the results of the Sars outbreak or a combination of all three,'' he said.
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Compare these statistics with the 3,000 African children who die every day from malaria or the 430,000 Americans who die from tobacco every year. The real tragedy here is that while Americans canceled their plans to visit Asia, avoided "shark-infested" beaches, or draped themselves in mosquito netting, they largely ignored much greater problems at home and abroad. No doubt, many still have smoldering cigarettes dangling from their mouths.
In the midst of the media circus, we have lost sight of the unsensational, everyday things that will make drastic differences in our lives: putting on our seat belts, quitting smoking, . . . [This graph only]
The cash-strapped government here has reinstated sin taxes on alcohol and tobacco to help fund SARS infrastructure improvements.
Palau closed its borders to Taiwan in mid-May through June because of fears that the infrastructure of this developing nation would be unable to deal with an outbreak.
Some island governments, though, have turned down sin taxes as new revenue sources because of the belief that new taxes would stunt business and yield less tax revenue.
There is a tragic irony in The Sun's photo of a surgeon with a lighted cigarette jammed into his mask, captioned, "A surgeon wears a mask to protect against SARS during a cigarette break outside St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto."
The Sun's article notes that "the global death toll from SARS was at least 753, out of more than 8,200 infected," for a death rate under 10 percent ("Rule change triples SARS in Toronto," May 30).
Barely a week earlier, the World Health Assembly adopted a treaty to discourage cigarette smoking and reduce the estimated 5 million deaths it causes every year. . .
The math is simple enough. Even a surgeon should get the point.
CREDIT: (CP/Kevin Frayer)
A surgeon smokes a cigarette through a mask to protect against SARS during a break outside St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto on Thursday. (CP/Kevin Frayer) [This graph only]
The topic is a constant in conversations, as in this discussion between friends talking about a now-famous photo of a young couple kissing through their surgical masks.
"It's silly," said Grace Tang, a Beijing transplant from Jiangsu Province.
"It's no more silly than the men I've seen who pull back their masks long enough to puff on a cigarette," said a friend.
"Oh, no. Some people think the nicotine actually kills the SARS," said Tang.
Outside, on the street, he notices five young Japanese men.
"You can always clearly tell Japanese from local people in China from the clothes and the faces," he says. "What I totally cannot understand is that one of them was smoking while wearing a mask. He just removed the mask for a little opening, smoked the cigarette and covered his face again using his mask - unbelievable." [This graph only]
I went into a bar last week and -- between the wall-size replica of Mount Rushmore and the jazz paintings -- there were tables full of people smoking.
That anyone should be there at all was a bit of a surprise; ordinarily, Chinese bars are about as populated as a Nevada desert.
"Yufang," an acquaintance explained, offering me a cigarette. "Precaution."
She did not have to tell me what the precaution was against: feidian, also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It's true, more people are smoking in the belief that it will ward off SARS. As the Chinese government has admitted the true extent of the spread of the virus, all kinds of precautionary measures, some more effective than others, have come into vogue. [This graph only]
If tobacco smoke transmitted SARS can you imagine how quickly governments worldwide would make all workplaces and public places smoke-free?
But, alas, it only transmits cancer, respiratory illness, heart disease, and asthma. Primary inhalation of tobacco smoke kills more than 400,000 Americans every year while secondhand inhalation kills 50,000 Americans each year.
Diseases caused by tobacco smoke cost American taxpayers more than $100 billion annually!
HONG KONG is turning to drink, cigarettes and miniature bottles of Japanese milk bacillus in a desperate attempt to ward off Sars.
Smoking 30 cigarettes a day is one idea favoured to keep the virus at bay, so is filling the bloodstream with alcohol . . .
As George Tan, a Hong Kong resident, said: "Everyone you talk to has a different tip about how to stay alive: lavender water, eau de cologne, turnips. Smoking is supposed to fill your lungs with so many toxins that the virus will die there anyway. [This graph only]
China has detained four people for spreading rumors about SARS on the Internet and through mobile phone messages, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Beijing police, which has 40,000 specialized Internet enforcers, detained the four after intercepting their messages, Xinhua said late on Tuesday.
"Using SARS as an excuse, they purposefully spread harmful rumors causing social panic, undermining the fight against the spread of disease and destroying social order," it said. . .
Popular rumors include eating turnips, carrots, garlic or ginger to ward off the disease, or that the virus avoids people who chain smoke cigarettes and overindulge in alcohol.
While the Beijing government is pumping its message through every possible media outlet, citizens in this plague-stricken capital are circulating their own counter propaganda.
Drink as much Baijiu - the local grain spirit brew - as possible and keep smoking. If you do it with enough enthusiasm, it is sure to kill any mystery virus. [This graph only]
THERE is absolutely no truth to the rumor that nicotine, taken at a high temperature and in abundance, will kill the SARS corona virus that lingers in anyone's lungs or respiratory system. The public, therefore, is constantly advised not to engage in cigarette smoking to combat SARS. . .
In Davao City, it is not SARS that kills. It is the Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance of 2002 (CASO). Many establishments have folded up due to the ordinance. And many more are ailing. It seems that the Davao City Council is not doing anything about it since they are all waiting for the mayor. It just goes to show the "rubber stamp" character of the council. Too bad, really.
But businesses could not wait. The al fresco area of The Venue compound is now a smoking zone. Who authorized these business establishments to allow smoking? To what basis did the owners decide to allow smoking in the al fresco premises? The ordinance has not been amended and yet these business establishments are jump-starting any amendment of the ordinance.
Next, put the mask on and, if you're a smoker, don't take the mask off for any reason all day long except for brief periods to eat or drink. Of course, you won't be able to smoke, but we guarantee this will prolong life. The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that 18 percent of deaths in the state are caused by smoking. That's a pretty big bullet to dodge, but the mask will work if used correctly.
The Philippine president said Thursday she would try to calm SARS worries by visiting a northern agricultural village recently quarantined because of the illness.
Unfounded SARS fears could be disastrous to the economy, said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"We should not overreact," Arroyo told hundreds of workers in a Labour Day speech. "We should not panic because panic could do worse to our economy than SARS itself."
The presidential palace announced Arroyo would visit the farming community in Alcala town in the rice- and tobacco-producing province of Pangasinan