Smoking Falling Among Brazilian Youth
Thursday, April 9th, 2009The consumption of cigarettes among Brazilian youth has fallen more than half in the last 20 years. In 2008, according to the Health Ministry’s (MS) Surveillance of Risk Factors and Protection from Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigilãncia do Fatores de Risco e Proteção Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico – VIGITEL), 14.8% of youths between […]
Vehicle Pollution in São Paulo Quadruples Risk of Death
Saturday, March 7th, 2009Vehicle emissions indirectly kill 20 people per day in the São Paulo metropolitan region, according to a study reported in the daily Folha de São Paulo done by the Air Pollution Laboratory of the University of São Paulo’s (USP) Faculty of Medicine (FM). The study was commissioned by the Brazilian Health Ministry (MS) and has […]
A Symbolic Ban of Asbestos
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Brazil’s Environment Minister, Carlos Minc, just banned asbestos. Well, not quite. He announced at the World Social Forum that has banned, through an administrative rule (portaria), the use of any product containing asbesto fibers in construction or goods acquired by the Environment Ministry (MMA) and its associated organs: the national environment agency, IBAMA, the Chico […]
RIACT Focuses on Smoke-Free Environments
Thursday, December 25th, 2008Recently the Ibero-American Tobacco Control Network (Rede Ibero-Americana de Controle do Tabagismo – RIACT) held in Rio de Janerio its first full-fledged meeting since its creation in 2007. Attending the two-day meeting were representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The […]
A mortalidade de não-fumantes expostos à fumaça do tabaco / The Mortality of Non-smokers Exposed to Tobacco Smoke
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Synopsis in English: Just before Brazil’s National Day to Combat Tobacco (29 August) the National Cancer Institute (INCA) released a study on “Mortality Attributable to Passive Smoking in the Brazilian Population.” The first study of its kind in Brazil and one of the first worldwide served as backdrop to the National Day’s theme this year, […]
Promoting Local Production of Cancer Medicines
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008A few years back, I engaged someone I know in the research-based pharmaceutical industry in a discussion of the raging debate over whether developing countries would impose compulsory licensing of key patented (by multinational companies) drugs for the treatment of life-threatening conditions such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, followed by either local production or importing generics […]
Cancer Agency: Smoke-Free Policies Work
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008From the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC): SMOKE-FREE POLICIES EFFECTIVE, SAYS INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR RESEARCH ON CANCER Smoke-free policies reduce the exposure of both adults and children, reduce the prevalence of smoking in adults and reduce the risk of heart disease related to smoke exposure. A resulting reduction in the lung cancer burden […]
Brazilian Attitudes About Cancer / Opinião dos Brasileiros Sobre o Câncer
Friday, June 1st, 2007Synopsis in English: As part of its celebration of the 70th anniversary of its founding, Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA) has released the results of a May survey of 2,100 Brazilians 16 or older in seven state capitals — Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais – MG), Florianópolis (Santa Catarina – SC), Goiânia (Goiás – GO), João […]