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** 16 June 2023
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** UK
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** Government dilutes public health priorities to deliver shorter NHS mandate (#1)
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** Vaping: Why are people worried about young people vaping? (#2)
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** International
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** How Tobacco Companies Are Crushing ESG Ratings (#3)
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** Links of the week
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** Vaping position statement for London (#4)
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** UK
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** Government dilutes public health priorities to deliver shorter NHS mandate

The government has downgraded the importance of improving public health in its annual ‘mandate’ to the NHS.

‘The government’s 2023 mandate to NHS England’, published Thursday, was noticeably shorter at 18 pages than the previous document from March 2022.

Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference, health secretary Steve Barclay said: “For over a decade, governments have used the mandate to make asks of the system. Sometimes these asks have been excessive, with long documents with many pages full of tests and targets… But what we’ve done this year is make it short and clear… setting out our priorities: Cutting waiting lists; the three recovery plans; tech; and workforce.

“It gives a clear direction and backs it up with the freedom and flexibility to deliver it.”

However, the latest mandate places significantly less emphasis on public health.

For example, one of the five objectives in the 2022 mandate called for the service to “embed a population health management approach within local systems, stepping up action to prevent ill health and tackle health disparities”.

The objective contained specific targets on reducing “health disparities”, addressing heart disease through improved screening, tackling obesity and cutting the service’s environmental impact.

The 2023 mandate mentions the first two in passing, and does not mention the latter two at all.

There is no reference to the importance of population health management.

Source: HSJ, 15 June 2023

See also: DHSC - The government's 2023 mandate to NHS England ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Vaping: Why are people worried about young people vaping?

This BBC Newsround clip focuses on youth vaping. The presenter speaks to students, a paediatric doctor and from 3:11 Hazel Cheeseman, the Deputy Chief Executive of ASH. Hazel talks about disposable vapes, which is what the majority of 11-17 year olds who vape use, and says the government could better regulate the marketing of these products as well as placing a tax on them to make them less affordable to young people. You can watch the full video here ([link removed]) .

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Watch Here ([link removed])


** International
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** How Tobacco Companies Are Crushing ESG Ratings

S&P Global made headlines this month when it gave Tesla, the world's largest manufacturer of electric cars, a lower environmental, social, and governance score than Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes.

Tesla earned just 37 points on the 100-point scale compared with the cigarette giant's 84.

ESG ratings are supposed to guide investors, and their money, toward ethical enterprises. But Big Tobacco has lapped Tesla in the ESG ratings race more than once: Sustainalytics, a widely used ESG ratings tool, gives Tesla a worse score than Altria, one of the largest tobacco producers in the world.

And the London Stock Exchange gives British American Tobacco an ESG score of 94—the third highest of any company on the exchange's top share index—while Tesla earns a middling 65.

How could cigarettes, which kill over eight million people each year, be deemed a more ethical investment than electric cars? It may have something to do with the tobacco industry's embrace of corporate progressivism.

Companies like Altria have gone out of their way to emphasize the diversity of their corporate boards and the breadth of their social justice initiatives, from funding minority businesses to promoting transgender women in sports.

The "S" in ESG typically includes diversity programs. Philip Morris International, which in 2021 advertised a partnership with "African data scientists," got a social score of 84 from S&P Global. Tesla got a measly 20.

Cigarettes are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more people than alcohol, illegal drugs, and car accidents combined.

And their supply chain involves a litany of environmental sins: The industry's carbon footprint is substantial, and even e-cigarettes, marketed as a less harmful alternative to tobacco, can result in serious pollution because they don't biodegrade.

Tobacco farming, which mostly takes place in developing countries, causes deforestation and soil erosion. Tobacco workers are exposed to toxic chemicals, including high doses of nicotine, which can lead to hospitalization.

But ESG ratings often mask those effects. Some scores, including S&P Global's, say in fine print that they are sector-specific, which means companies are held to different standards depending on their industry. An unusually green tobacco giant could score better than an electric carmaker with an all-male board, and corporations can earn points merely by setting water reduction targets or using "diverse" suppliers.

Source: The Washington Free Beacon, 13 June 2023

See also: Tobacco Tactics – Tobacco industry CSR strategy ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Links of the week
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** Vaping position statement for London

A pan-London partnership for tobacco control has launched a first-of its kind position statement for London, calling for those working with adult smokers to encourage them to swap to vaping to stop smoking.

Based on the latest evidence, the London Tobacco Alliance believes that alongside free behavioural support and licensed stop smoking aids, nicotine vapes play a significant role in reducing tobacco harm for adult smokers and supporting them to quit, improving public health, and helping to reduce health inequalities in London.

You can read the full position statement here ([link removed]) .
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For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
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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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