Tobacco control
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The right to information is a fundamental consumer value. Following the advent of health warnings, the tobacco industry has repeatedly asserted that smokers are fully informed of the risks they take, while evidence demonstrates widespread superficial levels of awareness and understanding. ⋯ We use the idea of a smoker licensing scheme-under which it would be illegal to sell to smokers who had not demonstrated an adequate level of awareness-as a device to explore some of these issues. We also explore some of the difficulties that addiction poses for the notion that smokers might ever voluntarily assume the risks of smoking.
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International covenants establish a role for governments in ensuring the conditions for human health and wellbeing, which has been recognised as a central human right. International trade agreements, conversely, prioritize the rights of corporations over health and human rights. International trade agreements are threatening existing tobacco control policies and restrict the possibility of implementing new controls. ⋯ Trade negotiations provide an unwarranted opportunity for the tobacco industry to assert its interests without public scrutiny. Trade agreements provide the industry with additional tools to obstruct control policies in both developed and developing countries and at every level. The health community should become involved in reversing these trends, and help promote additional measures to protect public health.
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Multicenter Study
Smoking cessation treatment in primary care: prospective cohort study.
To compare the characteristics of smokers who do and do not receive smoking cessation treatment in primary care. ⋯ The low proportion of smokers being prescribed these products strongly suggests that a major public health opportunity to prevent smoking related illness is being missed.