Sweden SimSmoke: the effect of tobacco control policies on smoking and snus prevalence and attributable deaths.

Background: This study examines the effect of past tobacco control policies and projects the effect of future policies on smoking and snus use prevalence and associated premature mortality in Sweden.

Methods: The established SimSmoke model was adapted with population, smoking rates and tobacco control policy data from Sweden. SimSmoke evaluates the effect of taxes, smoke-free air, mass media, marketing bans, warning labels, cessation treatment and youth access policies on smoking and snus prevalence and the number of deaths attributable to smoking and snus use by gender from 2010 to 2040.

The benefits from complying with the framework convention on tobacco control: a SimSmoke analysis of 15 European nations.

Introduction: This article compares the predicted impact of tobacco tax increases alone and as part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths (SADs) across 15 European countries.

Methods: Country-specific population, smoking prevalence and policy data with modified parameter values have been applied to the previously validated SimSmoke model for 10 high-income and 5 middle-income European nations. The impact of past and potential future policies is modelled.

The efficacy of different models of smoke-free laws in reducing exposure to second-hand smoke: a multi-country comparison.

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is a serious public health concern and while all EU Member States have enacted some form of regulation aimed at limiting exposure, the scope of these regulations vary widely and many countries have failed to enact comprehensive legislation creating smoke-free workplaces and indoor public places. To gauge the effectiveness of different smoke-free models we compared fine particles from second-hand smoke in hospitality venues before and after the implementation of smoking bans in France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Scotland. Data on PM2.

SimSmokeFinn: how far can tobacco control policies move Finland toward tobacco-free 2040 goals?

Aims: Finland is the first country to stipulate in law that its aim is to end the use of tobacco products containing compounds that are toxic to humans and that create addiction. This paper describes the development of a simulation model examining the potential effect of tobacco control policies in Finland on smoking prevalence and associated future premature mortality.

Methods: The model is developed using the SimSmoke simulation model of tobacco control policy, previously developed for other nations.

Germany SimSmoke: the effect of tobacco control policies on future smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in Germany.

Introduction: Although Germany has recently implemented some tobacco control policies, there is considerable scope to strengthen policies consistent with the MPOWER guidelines. This article describes the development of a simulation model projecting the effect of future tobacco control policies in Germany on smoking prevalence and associated premature mortality.

Methods: Germany SimSmoke-an adapted version of the SimSmoke simulation model of tobacco control policy-uses population, smoking rates, and policy data for Germany.

The effect of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in Ireland using the IrelandSS simulation model.

Objectives: This study estimates the relative contribution of policies implemented between 1998 and 2010 to reductions in smoking prevalence by 2010. It then models the impact of implementing stronger policies, relative to a scenario of inaction, on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable mortality in Ireland.

Methods: IrelandSS is an adapted version of SimSmoke, a dynamic simulation model used to examine the effect of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence, through initiation and cessation, and associated future premature mortality.

The road to smoke-free legislation in Ireland.

Aim: To describe the process through which Ireland changed its policies towards smoking in work-places and distil lessons for others implementing or extending smoke-free laws.

Design, Setting, Participants, Measurements: This analysis is informed by a review of secondary sources including a commissioned media analysis, documentary analysis and key informant interviews with policy actors who provide insight into the process of smoke-free policy development. The policy analysis techniques used include the development of a time-line for policy reform, stakeholder analysis, policy mapping techniques, impact analysis through use of secondary data and a review process.

Smoking characteristics of Polish immigrants in Dublin.

Background: This study examined two main hypotheses: a) Polish immigrants' smoking estimates are greater than their Irish counterparts (b) Polish immigrants purchasing cigarettes from Poland smoke "heavier" (>/= 20 cigarettes a day) when compared to those purchasing cigarettes from Ireland. The study also set out to identify significant predictors of 'current' smoking (some days and everyday) among the Polish immigrants.

Methods: Dublin residents of Polish origin (n = 1,545) completed a previously validated Polish questionnaire in response to an advertisement in a local Polish lifestyle magazine over 5 weekends (July-August, 2007).

Safety and efficacy of transfusions of autologous cryopreserved platelets derived from recombinant human thrombopoietin to support chemotherapy-associated severe thrombocytopenia: a randomised cross-over study.

Background: The increasing demand for platelet products, and concern over the transfusion-associated risks of alloimmunisation and infections, have motivated a search for improved methods aimed at keeping exposure to donor antigens to a minimum. Transfusion of thrombopoietin-derived autologous platelets might provide an alternative strategy. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of this strategy with that of transfusion with fresh allogeneic platelets in patients with severe chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.