World No Tobacco Day 09: Mexico Issues Regulation
Monday, June 1st, 2009How did Mexico’s Health Secretary José Ángel Córdova Villalobos commemorate World No-Tobacco Day in 2009? He issued the implementing regulation for the 2008 General Law on Tobacco Control (LGCT). Among other things, the regulation covers the architectural design of nonsmoking areas, the ban on sales of tobacco products to minors, and the presence of health […]
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 […]
30% of Cancers in Brazil Preventable
Thursday, February 26th, 2009From World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF): Landmark report: many cancers could be prevented across the globe Over 40 per cent of bowel and breast cancer cases in the UK are preventable through healthy patterns of diet, physical activity and weight maintenance, according to estimates in a landmark report that has set out recommendations for policies […]
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, […]
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 […]
The Distribution of Cancer in Argentina
Monday, August 13th, 2007When you read my post last week about colon cancer rates rising in Buenos Aires Province (PBA), did you wonder what the rates are for other types of cancer in the rest of Argentina? I did (but then, I am curious like that). So I went hunting for the information. It appears that most Argentine […]
WHO Calls for Combatting Occupational Cancers
Sunday, April 29th, 2007Yesterday was World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Although the WHO press release reproduced below has a global scope, its message is very relevant for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). There are still some LAC nations that do not have comprehensive occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation, some which have not banned […]