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 | | Wednesday, 8 August, 2001, 08:17 GMT 09:17 UK Drive to cut Asian smoking  Rates of cigarette smoking are high in some communities Ministers are spending �750,000 to try to cut the high smoking rates in the UK's south Asian communities. This will include specialist tobacco helplines in a variety of languages - however, these will only be manned on Tuesday afternoons and evenings. Bangladeshi men are a particular target - 44% of them smoke cigarettes, compared to 27% in the general population. Even though this figure is lower in the Indian and Pakistani communities, experts say men in particular are less likely to admit the habit. Many south Asian men appear to be more prone to high blood pressure and heart problems, adding urgency to efforts to combat another major cause of heart disease. Death rates from heart disease are 38% higher in south Asian men than in men generally, and they are also 30% more likely to have either a heart attack or angina.
Another problem is chewing tobacco, especially among Bangladeshi women. It has been linked with a number of medical problems, most notably oral and oesophagheal cancers. Health risks Health minister Hazel Blears launched the strategy - which will involve adverts in the south Asian press and specialist radio stations. She said: "For some Asian communities the message about the health risks from tobacco is not getting through. "Smoking causes 120,000 deaths each year in the UK and is the greatest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK." "Our campaign recognises the cultural and language difficulties which exist and we can make real progress if the Asian communities spread the message." The government is to spend �50m on smoking cessation treatments across England. Nicotine replacement therapies are now available on prescription, as is Zyban, the drug which aims to make quitting easier. However, there has been anger at the government's failure to push through legislation banning tobacco advertising. | | Internet links:  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Health stories now:  Links to more Health stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||
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