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** 22 June 2023
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** UK
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** Lung cancer campaign will give scan to anyone who has smoked (#1)
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** Ministers call for cigarette-style health warnings for ultra-processed foods (#2)
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** Hundreds of illegal vapes seized in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (#3)
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** UK
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** Lung cancer campaign will give scan to anyone who has smoked
Anyone who has smoked is to benefit from a lung check when they reach middle age under NHS plans to increase cancer survival rates.
Ministers are likely to approve a recommendation from health chiefs that CT scans, in which a computer creates images of the body’s organs, should be offered in mobile units set up in car parks. A pilot scheme has found that most lung cancer cases can be identified in the early stages by such checks.
Too many cases now are caught too late, making treatment more difficult and expensive for the NHS. The Daily Telegraph reported that the introduction of lung screening is to be part of a series of announcements this year to improve early diagnosis of cancer.
Lung cancer outcomes in the UK are low, with survival rates of about 15 per cent. It is Britain’s most common cause of cancer death. Every year there are almost 50,000 lung cancer diagnoses and about 35,000 deaths. The pilot scheme follows a government pledge to diagnose three in four cancers at their early stages by 2028 — up from about half.
Smoking is responsible for more than 70 per cent of lung cancer cases and increases the risk of at least 14 other types of cancer.
Charities have already said that early findings from test schemes are “extraordinary” and could save up to 5,000 lives a year.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, told MPs yesterday that implementing the recommendation would be “an important practical step” towards boosting the cancer survival rate.
Source: The Times, 22 June 2023
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** Ministers call for cigarette-style health warnings for ultra-processed foods
Health warnings should be considered on packaging for “highly addictive” ultra-processed foods, according to MPs.
Concerns were raised in Parliament about the health impact of such products which usually contain ingredients that people would not add when they were cooking homemade food.
Conservative former minister Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) said: “There’s a case for looking again at our food-labelling laws and perhaps requiring ultra-processed food to carry a health warning, rather like we require cigarette packets to have to display such a warning.”
Conservative MP Suzanne Webb, opening the debate in Westminster Hall, said: “Ultra-processed food is food that tends to be high in fat, salt and sugar – food which is highly addictive.
“Awareness of what is ultra-processed food is actually fairly low but they are familiar foods in your shopping trolley.”
Ms Webb warned the foods were linked to obesity and “marketed aggressively to the detriment of our health”, adding: “The food supply chain is, quite frankly, endorsing and promoting products that are linked to serious health outcomes.”
The MP for Stourbridge said she was “slightly disappointed” the Government was delaying its planned ban on two-for-one junk food deals but acknowledged the cost-of-living pressures.
She added: “A good step forward would be to see an advertising watershed.”
A ban on TV advertising of junk food before 9pm had been planned, with Ms Webb adding: “Current advertising regulations are not going far enough to protect children from seeing a significant amount of unhealthy food adverts.”
Conservative former health minister Maggie Throup said: “I believe this country is addicted to ultra-processed foods, similar to the way it was addicted to smoking in past decades.
“We tackled smoking addiction by intervention, it is now time to tackle ultra-processed food addiction by intervention too.”
Source: The Independent, 22 June 2023
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** Hundreds of illegal vapes seized in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
One man was arrested and illegal vapes were seized as part of a police crackdown in a Suffolk town.
As part of an operation to remove illegal goods from the shops in Bury St Edmunds, more than 500 disposable vapes were seized by the police last week.
Officers visited six shops in the town and seized vapes containing 2,000, 3,500, 4,000, 9,000, and 10,000 puffs. Most disposable vapes only contain 600 puffs in accordance with the lawful maximum e-liquid capacity in the UK, which is 2ml.
Sergeant Dan Peck, from Bury St Edmunds police, said: “This was a very productive operation as illicit tobacco and alcohol contribute to harm within the local community and often go hand in hand with anti-social behaviour and other like offences.”
Source: The East Anglian Daily Times, 20 June 2023
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