What a difference! A few degrees increase in temperature and clear blue skies all round today, meant a big turnout for our last mouth cancer screening session in Tower Hamlets…for now at least.

After two fairly quiet sessions we had 51 people turn up today, all adults and 51 completed questionnaires. This brings our total to 125 people with 5 referrals made to Oral Med.

Its always very difficult to judge how to approach people especially in the community East London Mosque may be busy with people at the weekends but how do we actually engage peoples attention so they come to the screening.

A few factors were against us the fact that it was the summer holidays and the weather being un predictable meant the busy Sunday ladies Quran class was lacking numbers even if observation suggests otherwise.
I enlisted the help of one of the ladies that I know from the Mosque Pilot, she was great! We managed to budge the old ladies in the Gallery and providing a helping hand getting on board the mobile, we found someone who had never been to the dentist and had to be referred.

I have certainly learnt a lot from this experience. Looking out for key community people is a bonus to getting the communication across and emailing the Mosque directors as much as possible to get them on board and promote the idea is important. By the third session I think we had built up enough momentum through advertising and outreach to get good turnout.

Pictures to follow…

After not writing for a while I realized I missed the oppurtunity to highlight the current campaign we are doing with Cancer Research UK
CRUK Advert

The last session is tomorrow and I will hopefully fill everyone in on the ups and the downs of the last week or so.

Objective: This study examined the constituents of smokeless

tobacco products available in the UK and compared them

with products available in India, Sweden, and the USA

Methods: Seven UK brands of smokeless tobacco, including

a tooth cleaning powder, and four international brands of

smokeless tobacco were tested for a range of toxins and

known carcinogens, such as tobacco specific N-nitrosamines

(TSNA), as well as nicotine availability.

Results: Ten of the 11 brands tested had detectable levels of

tobacco specific nitrosamines, which are proven carcinogens,

and levels varied 130-fold. All had detectable levels of

benzo(a)pyrene, another proven carcinogen (with around

175-fold variation) and several toxic metals (with nearly

150-fold variation). Nicotine availability varied in the UK

products from 0.1 mg/g to 63.2 mg/g. All the tobacco

products tested are likely to be hazardous to users’ health,

but the data indicate that it should be possible to reduce key

toxins to non-detectable levels.

Conclusions: Smokeless tobacco products should be regulated

and standards set for maximum levels of toxins and

carcinogens. Read more Levels Toxins in Tobacco

With the ‘Smokefree’ ban coming in to force there has been a lot of concern from the Edgware road community of shisha bars. Edgware Road famous for its restaurants, shisha and hookah lounges will now have to seek alternatives to their longstanding social smoking tradition. Many businesses might lose custom due to the ban however this does not seem to deter some people here in Tower Hamlets from opening up Shisha lounges or including it on the menu.

On the way home this evening I that a very large venue is opening up on the corner of Mile End and Burdett Road. Where the ‘Purple’ nightclub used to reside there is now ‘Hookah’. With its red sign and clubby feel how does this venue escape the ban?

A quick guide to the smokefree law

The new law is being introduced to protect employees and the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Key points are:

• From 1 July 2007 it will be against the law to smoke in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces. See below for definitions.
• Public transport and work vehicles used by more than one person will also need to be smokefree.
• No-smoking signs will have to be displayed in all smokefree premises and vehicles.
• Staff smoking rooms and indoor smoking areas will no longer be allowed, so anyone who wants to smoke will have to go outside.
• Managers of smokefree premises and vehicles will have legal responsibilities to prevent people from smoking.
• If you are uncertain where you can or can’t smoke, just look for the no-smoking signs or ask someone in charge.

Penalties and fines for breaking the smokefree law

If you don’t comply with the new smokefree law, you will be committing a criminal offence. The fixed penalty notices and maximum fine for each offence are:

• Smoking in smokefree premises or work vehicles: a fixed penalty notice of £50 (reduced to £30 if paid in 15 days) imposed on the person smoking. Or a maximum fine of £200 if prosecuted and convicted by a court.
• Failure to display no-smoking signs: a fixed penalty notice of £200 (reduced to £150 if paid in 15 days) imposed on whoever manages or occupies the smokefree premises or vehicle. Or a maximum fine of £1000 if prosecuted and convicted by a court.
• Failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree place: a maximum fine of £2500 imposed on whoever manages or controls the smokefree premises or vehicle if prosecuted and convicted by a court. There is no fixed penalty notice for this offence.

Local councils will be responsible for enforcing the new law in England.

A telephone line (0800 587 166 7) will also be in operation from 1 July 2007 to enable members of the public to report possible breaches of the law. This information will be passed to local councils to follow-up as appropriate.

Definition of enclosed and substantially enclosed

Premises will be considered ‘enclosed’ if they have a ceiling or roof and (except for doors, windows or passageways) are wholly enclosed either on a permanent or temporary basis.
Premises will be considered ’substantially enclosed’ if they have a ceiling or roof, but have an opening in the walls, which is less than half the total area of the walls. The area of the opening does not include doors, windows or any other fittings that can be opened or shut.

Businesses and organisations should contact their local council if they require further guidance on whether their premises are ‘enclosed’ or ’substantially enclosed’. (http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/what-do-i-do/quick-guide.html)

I thought I’d point everyone in the right direction concerning WNTD 2007. As the website tends to be long and complicated here are some links taking you straight to the resources!

World No Tobacco Day What is all about?

And some resources that can be downloaded.

The emphasis this year is on smokefree enviroments and its a great way for us to capitalise on the Smoke Free England Ban and publicise local activity. We will be working with East London Mosque in our clinics that day. Alongside this CR-UK have a mobile dental cscreening taking place, to complement the exciting oral health promotion work taking place that day.

No Smoking Day’ was a huge success we managed to sign up 30 people who were actively seeking help to give up smoking. We were based in the foyer of the London Muslim Centre and caught the Dhur (midday) prayer rush. Admittedly we were a bit behind on recruiting women as man power was needed at the main display. One of the difficulties when recruiting at the Mosque is that of segregation. Sensitivity needs to be applied when approaching female Mosque goers, as they tend not to use the exits until all the men have left or they leave as soon as possible after the prayers.On the back NSD, Dipul and I completed the final quarter report (with extensive track changes from above) the final ‘quit rate’ for us at four weeks is 69% a 6% increase from last year. We recruited 380 people compared to last year at 320. The targets were increased and I think we have topped that by an extra 30 people.

Based on the part time hours that both of us are working and managing a caseload of 190 people each. Our numbers increased due to increase in referrals from other agencies e.g. GPs, Nurses and other Health Professionals. The PCT also have put a considerable amount of effort in to advertising the services in that last 6 months pushing our referrals up. So on the one hand our outreach community based work has halved, with referrals from the Health Practitioners doubling.

Ah, also before I forget I had an extensive list of clients from our community based contact ‘Majlish Homecare Services’ that are supporting Dr Haque’s Study.

So another successful year and an unusual one lay ahead, the PCTs would have been given there target list for the coming year and no doubt they will negotiate and increase our numbers.

Lets see what happens after the meeting with the PCT next week.

‘No Smoking Day 2007′

Good morning to everyone taking part in No Smoking Day events across the country. This year marks the run up to the 1st of July Smoking Ban in public places. And as a project catering for the disadvantaged in our borough and tackling health ineqaulites, BSTP will be working at the London Muslim Centre between 10:30am and 2:30pm. Hope to see a lot of interested people who want to quit and also hoping to get a lot of women wanting to give up tobacco use today as DR Haque’s numbers need to be in by the end of March.

I’m also hoping that Vishnee from No Smoking Day will have a lot of interest from the Asian press as this is something of a bonus to the local community. Recent Channel S referrals have been a good sign of recruits picking up!!! We hope that the PCT see sense in funding all innovative projects

This week began with the news of a survey highlighting NHS cuts in Stop Smoking Services across England http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6443271.stm

And a clarification from the Regional Team here suggests thatt the survey is unfounded;

“NHS Stop Smoking Service figures published on 28 February showed the
number of people successfully quit at the 4 week stage with the support of
the NHS Stop Smoking Services was 12% down for the first 6 months of
2006/07 compared to 2005/06. This had recovered from 14% down in the first
quarter of 2006/07. Compared with the first 6 months of 2003/04 the number
of 4 week quits is still some 72% higher.

The same statistical publication reported that total expenditure on NHS
Stop Smoking Services in the first 6 months of 2006/07 was £23.6m. This
compared with £23.2m for the first 6 months of 2005/06 ? an increase of 2%;
and compares with some £14.8m in the first six months of 2003/04 ? an
increase of 60%.

The Department of Health has allocated £56m to the NHS for smoking
cessation services this year ? up from £51m a year ago. These services
remain hugely effective in helping people quit ? for example, between April
2005 and March 2006 nearly 330,000 people remained quit after four weeks.

We have already exceeded our three-year target to help 800,000 people quit
by March 2006, and still more and more people are successfully kicking the
habit. The latest figures published at the end of February show that in
the first 6 months of 2006/07 around 125,000 smokers had quit at 4 weeks
with NHS Support.

We do expect that many people will be using 1 July as a springboard to
quitting, and NHS Stop Smoking Services will be crucial in supporting these
people to quit. PCTs will need to ensure that these services are adequately
resourced to cope with the demand ? but we know that a lot of preparatory
work has already started.

In addition, smoking cessation products such as nicotine replacement
therapy are available on prescription, which are free for more than 80% of
the population.

Overall our tobacco control policies have delivered real reductions in
smoking rates across the population since we published Smoking Kills, the
first ever White Paper on smoking, in 1998. Today, compared with smoking
rates in 1998 there are around 1.6 million fewer smokers. This compared
with a halt in the historical fall in smoking rates in the mid-1990s: and
indeed some evidence in 1996 that smoking rates may have been rising again.

Through our effective action on tackling smoking ? with advertising bans,
stark pack warnings, the highest price cigarettes in the EU, free,
professional services to support smokers to quit, and the forthcoming
smoking legislation on 1 July and increasing the age of sale from 16 to 18
on 1 October, we have a track record of real delivery on reducing the
single biggest cause of ill health and premature death in the country.

Smoking rates today are lower than since records began in England at
24%;and we are on track to deliver our target of 21% or lower adult smoking
rates by 2010.”
Hope this helps re your responses locally, Nicky Willis Team Leader – Supporting Smokers to Stop Tobacco Policy Team DOH’

Welcome to the Bangladeshi Stop Tobacco Digest, a weekly update of tobacco cessation activities in Tower Hamlets (U.K).

My name is Shamsia Begum and I have been working with this innovative project since 2000. I have been following the developments of grass roots tobacco cessation initiatives helping the Tower Hamlets Bangladeshi community.

The project’s approach is culturally sensitive, seeking to provide a tailored local solution to a global problem.

This site is currently under construction
Stay tuned for further updates