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** 10 May 2023
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** UK
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** Norfolk: Smoking now fully banned at Gorleston hospital grounds (#1)
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** Two of the best drugs for stopping smoking aren't available in UK (#2)
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** International
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** Spanish island holiday rules this summer amid smoking bans and party crackdowns (#3)
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** UK
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** Norfolk: Smoking now fully banned at Gorleston hospital grounds
Fifteen years after smoking was banned in all enclosed public spaces, Gorleston-based James Paget University Hospital Trust became entirely smoke-free on Monday - even prohibiting smokers from having a cigarette in the car park. The trust says tobacco has long been identified as the main cause of premature death and preventable ill-health in the UK.
Figures show 14% of adults smoke in England. However, 23% of adults smoke in Great Yarmouth, making it the most prevalent district in Norfolk. Before Monday's ban, smoking at the James Paget had been permitted on-site in the outdoor smoking shelters at the front and back of the hospital.
Now, smoking is prohibited everywhere on the site or grounds of the hospital and other trust locations, such as the Newberry Clinic in Gorleston and Carlton Court in Lowestoft.
Vaping and e-cigarettes - which are seen by the NHS as a means of helping people quit smoking tobacco - will be allowed, but only within the existing shelters previously designated for smokers.
Trust chief executive Jo Segasby said: "Smoking tobacco continues to damage people’s health while putting huge pressure on the NHS.
“As a leading healthcare provider in the area, it is our responsibility to do all we can to deter people from smoking - and that includes making our site entirely smoke-free.
"This is in line with the NHS Smokefree Pledge and the government's target to make England smoke-free by 2030.
"However, we recognise that quitting tobacco can be really tough for some smokers - and that is why we will continue to sign-post both our patients and staff, who need support to local organisations who can help them quit."
Source: Great Yarmouth Mercury, 9 May 2023
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** Two of the best drugs for stopping smoking aren't available in UK
When so much time and effort goes into developing the best medical treatments, we expect them to be available when we need them. The same goes for addiction treatments, so it’s worrying that two of the most effective drugs for quitting smoking aren’t available in the UK.
They’re called varenicline and cytisine; members of a family of stop-smoking medicines called “nicotine receptor partial agonists”. They work by stopping nicotine from binding to receptors in the brain and reducing the rewarding effects of smoking while stimulating the brain to reduce nicotine withdrawal and the cravings caused by quitting.
Varenicline, which is manufactured by Pfizer, had been available in the UK on prescription from 2007. It more than doubles the chances of a person quitting smoking. But in 2021, Pfizer halted production because of unacceptably high levels of chemicals called nitrosamines in the pills.
The resulting global shortage is a huge blow to tobacco control efforts and for anyone looking to quit smoking. While some nitrosamines can cause cancer, tobacco smoke contains even higher levels, so any risks from the nitrosamines in varenicline would be outweighed by the huge health benefits of quitting smoking.
Cytisine has a different problem. Although it has been available for some time in some countries, in others it has never been licensed, and there are far fewer trials testing how well it works. However, calls for cytisine to be more widely licensed are not new and more research is being conducted.
In a recent speech on achieving the “Smokefree 2030” goals for England, health minister Neil O’Brien addressed the unavailability of varenicline and cytisine and the need to ensure their availability. However, with varenicline now unavailable for two years, and 76,000 people still dying of tobacco-related disease in the UK each year, the process of making both varenicline and cytisine available in the UK feels excruciatingly slow.
Source: Wales Online, 9 May 2023
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** International
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** Spanish island holiday rules this summer amid smoking bans and party crackdowns
Holiday season is slowly but surely getting closer, and many will no-doubt be getting themselves ready for a trip abroad this summer.
An always-popular destination is Spain's Balearic Islands, which over the past year has been introducing a number of restrictions on tourists in a bid to reduce disruption that locals have previously faced.
A total of 28 beaches on the Balearic Islands have now banned people from smoking in a bid to improve people's health and cut down on littering.
In Ibiza, smoke-free beaches include Playa de Santa Eulalia del Río and Playa de Talamanca, while in Menorca you can head to Binissafúller or Platja Gran.
In Majorca those with smoking bans include: Sant Joan, Sa Platgeta, Santa Ponsa, Cala Estància, Cala Sant Vicenç and Caló des Moro.
The beaches taking part in the scheme now have four-metre banners declaring their smoke free status.
Source: Daily Record, 9 May 2023
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