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** 18 May 2023
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** UK
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** Number of children vaping spikes 50% in a year (#1)
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** ICSs get ‘significantly harder’ savings target of 6pc (#2)
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** Third of under-18s exposed to online vape promotions as schools take up airport-style security (#3)
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** UK
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** Number of children vaping spikes 50% in a year
Data for Great Britain shows a rise in experimental vaping among 11- to 17-year-olds, from 7.7 per cent last year to 11.6 per cent this year.
While it is illegal to sell vapes to people under the age of 18, social media shows posts from teenagers with vapes and discussing flavours such as pink lemonade, strawberry, banana and mango.
The number of children who said they had tried vaping once or twice roughly doubled in nine years, rising from 5.6 per cent in 2014 to 11.6 per cent this year.
Disposable vapes appear to be the e-cigarette of choice among youngsters. Experts have warned previously how the new generation of disposable vapes known as “puff bars” – which contain nicotine – have flooded the market.
The latest survey of 2,656 youngsters was carried out by YouGov in March and April for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
It will be submitted as part of the government’s call for evidence on measures to reduce the number of children accessing vaping, while ensuring e-cigarettes can still be used by adults who want to quit smoking.
The new data showed there has been no significant change since last year in the proportion of children currently smoking (4.8 per cent in 2022 and 3.6 per cent in 2023) or who say they currently vape (6.9 per cent in 2022 and 7.6 per cent in 2023).
When asked why they vape, 40 per cent of youngsters said they just wanted to give them a try, while 19 per cent used them because they wanted to join in with others, and 14 per cent said they like the flavours.
Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of youngsters said their first vape was given to them, and two-thirds by a friend, but for children who currently vape, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) said they usually buy their vapes.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “We need to stem the tide of child vape experimentation and the government’s investment in a crackdown on illegal underage sales of vapes is a vital first step.
“But enforcement on its own won’t do the trick without tougher regulation to address the child-friendly promotion of these cheap and attractive products.
“The ASH youth survey demonstrates the rapid growth of in-store promotion of vapes, using brightly coloured pack displays, reminiscent of cigarette displays from yesteryear.
“The evidence is clear, government needs to take strong action to prevent the marketing of vapes to children.”
ASH said, however, that fears vaping is leading to a new generation addicted to nicotine are not justified by the evidence to date.
Source: The Independent, 18 May 2023
See also: ASH- Resources on youth vaping ([link removed]) | ASH – 2023 child vaping survey press release ([link removed])
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** ICSs get ‘significantly harder’ savings target of 6pc
NHS organisations will have to make average efficiency savings of almost 6 per cent to meet their financial requirements this year, a report suggests, which is significantly higher than the levels demanded before the pandemic.
In the years before covid, the provider sector typically planned to make average efficiency savings of around 4 per cent each year, but repeatedly fell short of those levels.
The requirement increased to 5 per cent in 2022-23, against which performance is not yet known.
Papers published by Cambridge and Peterborough Integrated Care System said the average ICS efficiency rate for 2023-24 is 5.8 per cent. As a proportion of the total £102bn core allocation for ICSs, that equates to around £6bn.
NHSE did not dispute the figure, and a spokesman said: “We recognise that systems have a significant efficiency challenge for 23/24, as we ask them to remove the additional capacity put in place to respond to the pandemic and recover productivity.”
Initial data collected by HSJ suggests the number of ICSs that have defied NHSE and submitted deficits is well above the start of 2022-23, when five areas said they were unable to breakeven.
NHS Providers chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said: “The efficiency challenge for 2023-24 is significantly harder than 2022-23. Trusts relied on non-recurrent funding in 2022-23 to help balance their positions, but inflation is now making it more difficult for trusts to identify sustainable recurrent efficiency savings…
“The challenge for 2023-24 will be how to sustainably offset cost growth by improving productivity while continuing to meet demand for services and deliver national performance targets. There is a need, now more than ever, for providers to work in partnership with commissioners to identify recurrent savings at the system level.”
Source: HSJ, 17 May 2023
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** Third of under-18s exposed to online vape promotions as schools take up airport-style security
Schools across the UK are installing vape detection units in toilets and using airport-style wands to try to tackle rising numbers of underage students using e-cigarettes.
Copthall School, an all-girls high school in north London, has put in the devices after finding children as young as Year 7 (age 11-12) leaving class in order to vape in the toilets.
A recent trend has seen students filming themselves vaping, uploading the videos to TikTok and then tagging the clips with the name of the school.
Despite the school being able to prove that the children in the videos are underage, teachers say they are unable to get the videos taken down.
“It’s quite difficult to get the videos removed especially with TikTok”, says teacher Poonam Dave. “You can report the videos but TikTok will come back and say they won’t be able to remove them.”
Exclusive figures shared with ITV News by the anti-smoking charity ASH show that a third of under-18s have been exposed to vape promotion online.
That includes young influencers on TikTok who film sponsored clips of themselves unboxing and then trying different disposable e-cigarettes.
Advertising Standards Authority rules say e-cigarette promotions are not allowed at all on social media and anybody who is or looks under-25 must not appear in adverts promoting vaping, but ITV News found plenty of examples of both on the Chinese-owned platform - including from accounts where the user states in their profile that they are aged 20 or under.
Under current legislation, e-cigarettes are not a ‘licensed product’, meaning anybody can sell them.
A current loophole in the law means that producers are allowed to send free samples to children under the age of 18, so long as they do not make them pay.
The government has promised to make tackling underage vaping a priority and is spending £3 million on new "illicit vape enforcement squads".
Source: ITVX, 17 May 2023
You can also watch this coverage of this story on ITVX here ([link removed]) from 25.49 to 31.58
See also: ASH – Resources on youth vaping ([link removed])
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