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Can A Society With Smokers Be Profitable?
The latest rise in the indirect taxation on tobacco and alcohol took place in June. The most popular brand of cigarettes went up in price from 3.10 euros to 3.30 euros per packet. Are these taxes a form of dissuasion or a way of compensating the rest of society for the harm generated by those who smoke? A study by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena has looked into the most significant questions concerning the tobacco economy.
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Vystar(R) Corporation And Alatech Healthcare, LLC Announce FDA 510(k) Clearance For Exam Gloves Made With Vytex(R) NRL
Vystar Corporation and Alatech Healthcare, LLC announced 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market and sell the first exam gloves manufactured with Vytex® Natural Rubber Latex (NRL). Alatech plans to introduce exam gloves made with Vytex NRL in the near future.
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South African Health Minister To Launch PMTCT Plan
South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi within the next two weeks is expected to launch a plan to address mother-to-child HIV transmission in an effort to reduce infant mortality in the country, The Times reports. The MTCT plan is part of a new health program adopted by President Jacob Zuma"s administration, according to The Times."This is one of the most urgent things I want to (deal with) as the new minister," Motsoaledi said. According to Motsoaledi, a child dies every eight minutes in South Africa, and about 40% of child deaths are related to HIV/AIDS. The plan was developed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa at a July meeting of government and health sector stakeholders. Participants at the meeting also examined maternal deaths and the decrease in life expectancy among young adults because of HIV/AIDS. According to Motsoaledi, these and other issues have been identified as priorities for the Zuma administration if South Africa is to meet targets in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. They also have been consolidated into a 10-point plan to help the Department of Health focus on urgent issues through 2015."Health and education are the biggest challenges for (the government) and we ought to be doing something drastic," Motsoaledi said, adding, "These are very serious issues in society." The health department"s plan also calls for the revival of the National AIDS Council and says that the government should improve regulation of the private health sector. It also calls for the establishment of a national tuberculosis reference laboratory, a focus on infection rates among women ages 17 to 21 and the improvement of HIV prevention among commercial sex workers (Molele, The Times, 5/25).
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Dangerous College Drinking: Prevention Is Possible, Studies Suggest

Alcohol is sometimes seen as part and parcel of college life, but there are programs that can significantly reduce students" risky drinking, according to a series of studies in a special college drinking supplement of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Problem drinking among U.S. college students is not going away and, by some measures, is getting worse. According to one study published in the supplement, drinking-related accidental deaths are on the rise -- from 1,440 deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students in 1998 to at least 1,825 in 2005. In this study, researchers led by Ralph W. Hingson, Sc.D, M.P.H., of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in Bethesda, MD, found that heavy episodic drinking (sometimes referred to as "binge" drinking) and drunk driving have also increased among 21- to 24-year-olds. "College students are being swept up in the same societal problems as the rest of the population, and that"s discouraging," says William DeJong, Ph.D., a professor in social and behavioral sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. DeJong is a special editor on the supplement and the lead author of a review article summarizing the research in the supplement. But what is encouraging, DeJong says, is the growing evidence that college prevention programs do help reduce heavy episodic drinking and other alcohol-related problems. Fourteen studies published in the supplement detail results of projects funded by the NIAAA"s Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems initiative. Between 2004 and 2005, the NIAAA selected 15 college campuses with serious student-drinking issues to work with the agency and other experts in developing programs to combat the problem. The resulting programs ranged widely -- from counseling for individual students with drinking problems to programs that involved the neighborhoods surrounding college campuses. And researchers found that all of these approaches had their own benefits. One study, for example, looked at an assistance program for students who had been sanctioned by the university for drinking- or drug-related violations. Counselors assessed each student"s alcohol and drug use, then had several sessions with them to discuss ways to change their behavior. Lead author Hortensia Amaro, Ph.D., of Northeastern University in Boston, and her colleagues found that, six months later, students who"d gone through the program were drinking less and using more positive "coping skills" than their counterparts who had not been through the program. At the other end of the spectrum, two studies evaluated programs that brought colleges and their surrounding communities together -- through measures like increased police patrols in problem neighborhoods and efforts to make students more aware of their responsibilities as community residents. Both studies, one led by Robert F. Saltz, Ph.D., of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, CA, and the second led by Mark D. Wood, Ph.D., of the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, found certain positive effects, including reductions in heavy drinking and student incidents off-campus. "You really need a full complement of efforts at all of these levels," DeJong says. "This is not just a student problem or a college problem; it"s a community problem." It"s common for college administrators to have a defeatist attitude toward reducing campus drinking problems, DeJong noted. What is important to remember, he says, is that "the vast majority of students are making good decisions" when it comes to alcohol and that, where problems exist, it is possible to address them. "The message here is that there are programs and policies that work," DeJong says. "These studies make the case that prevention is possible." DeJong, W., Larimer, M.E., Wood, M.D., and Hartman, R. NIAAA"s Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems Initiative: Reinforcing the Use of Evidence-Based Approaches in College Alcohol Prevention. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Supplement No. 16: 5-11, July 2009. Paul Candon Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs


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