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** 3 April 2023
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** UK
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** Snus: Several players seeking help for addiction, says Professional Footballers Association (#1)
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** Anti-smoking and vaping project under way at Cornwall school (#2)
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** How to optimise your smoking cessation service (#3)
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** Revealed: Maker of Wegovy ‘skinny jab’ is funding NHS weight-loss services (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Debate: Easter Adjournment (#5)
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** UK
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** Snus: Several players seeking help for addiction, says Professional Footballers Association
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**
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** A growing number of football players are using snus , with "several" receiving help for addiction, says the Professional Footballers Association.

The PFA is now planning to carry out research into the use and effects of the substance on players.
Snus is a tobacco product in a sachet, similar to a small teabag, which is placed under the lip and releases nicotine into the bloodstream. It is illegal to sell in the United Kingdom but not against the law to use.

A number of high-profile football players have been pictured with the product.

The PFA said its "close relationship with club doctors and medical personnel" meant it was able to "monitor emerging health concerns for our players, including the growing prevalence of snus use".
It added players had been surveyed at workshops, "which has given us insights into the growing prevalence of its use". "Following the sessions, we have also had several members seek support regarding addiction to the substance," a PFA spokesperson said.

Source: BBC Sport, 30 March 2023
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** Anti-smoking and vaping project under way at Cornwall school
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**
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** A pilot scheme has been launched at a school in Cornwall which aims to reduce the number of pupils who smoke or vape.

The project at Liskeard School and Community College comes as national statistics show vaping is becoming more popular among teenagers.

Project bosses said work would include education with pupils about the consequences, and offering support and workshops. Local shops have also been inspected and advised by trading standards.
If successful, the scheme will be replicated in other schools and communities, Cornwall Council said.

The primary focus of the scheme is to prevent young people from taking up smoking, but it also aims to discourage vaping.

Source: BBC News, 3 April 2023
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**
See also: ASH - Resources on youth vaping ([link removed])
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** How to optimise your smoking cessation service

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** Pharmacies across England have been able to offer an advanced smoking cessation service (SCS) since March 2022, although similar services continue to be commissioned locally, such as Smokefree City and Hackney in east London. Pharmacy smoking cessation services have also been commissioned across Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Welsh national smoking cessation service Help Me Quit launched in 2017.

Writing for Chemist and Druggist, Saša Jankovic, interviews two contractors on how they are “making the most” of their smoking cessation services:

Jankovic talks to Pharmacist Jatin Damani at Safedale Pharmacy in Haringey, London, who says his service, “started offering a smoking cessation service about 15 years ago”. Damani states, “in order to offer the service, he and his team had to receive training, which was provided by Smokefree City and Hackney.”

Mr Damani states he and his dispenser completed the highest level of training, and the pharmacy also had to be certified by the National Centre for Smoking Cessation Training (NCSCT).

Mr Damani says, “his counter staff have also undertaken NCSCT training to allow them to approach patients about stopping smoking.”

According to Damani, “under the service, quitters have weekly appointments with a stop smoking advisor. Working under patient group directions (PGDs) issued by Smokefree City & Hackney, the pharmacy can offer advice, encouragement and smoking cessation products.”

Source: Chemist and Druggist, 31 March 2023
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** Revealed: Maker of Wegovy ‘skinny jab’ is funding NHS weight-loss services
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** The pharmaceutical company that makes Wegovy slimming jabs is funding the expansion of weight-loss services across England as it seeks to boost sales of its obesity drugs, the Observer can reveal.

Novo Nordisk is paying the salaries of staff on NHS obesity teams and financing the launch and redesign of services, including giving £206,000 to a health partnership to transform its treatment of obesity. The Danish firm also has financial links to the co-chair of an NHS England weight management advisory group, and paid her almost £50,000 in lecture, consulting and other fees in just two years.

Novo Nordisk’s funding arrangements are under the spotlight after an Observer investigation in March found it had paid £21.7m to UK health organisations and professionals in three years before the approval of its Wegovy injections for NHS use.

In some cases, recipients of the funding went on to praise Wegovy or support its approval for use on the NHS without always making their links to Novo clear. This weekend, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said an internal inquiry had found that some of those who advised it on the use of Wegovy in the NHS had not properly declared their interests.

Now further documents reveal how Novo Nordisk has been granted a potential role in shaping obesity treatment through partnerships with NHS trusts, pharmacies and GPs to provide training and funding.

Source: The Observer, 2 April 2023
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Debate: Easter Adjournment
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**
On Thursday, 30th March, Bob Blackman MP, Chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, led a Westminster Hall debate to consider “matters to be raised before the forthcoming (Easter) adjournment.”

On smoking, Mr Blackman:

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** Highlighted that smoking remains the biggest cause of cancer and avoidable death, with 78,000 people dying as a result each year and that reducing the number of smokers will benefit the NHS, the individuals’ health and the health of those around them considerably.
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** Highlighted his ten-minute rule Bill which would mean that any retailer looking to sell tobacco goods would have to hold a licence, as is currently the case with alcohol
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** Urged Ministers to consider the proposals made in the Khan Review and publish the Government’s long-awaited tobacco review plan imminently.
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**
Responding on behalf of the Government, Marcus Jones MP, Treasurer of His Majesty’s Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons):

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** Confirmed Ministers are in the process of considering a response to the Khan Review.
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**
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** Source: Hansard, 30 March 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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