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** 30 June 2023
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** UK
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** We want patients to have more choice over their NHS care, says Steve Barclay (#1)
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** Government should be called to account for ‘years of inaction on vaping’, says ASH (#2)
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** Interview: (#3) “I’m feeling gently told off”: Wes Streeting and Dr Phil Whitaker in conversation (#3)
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** Plan to train more doctors more quickly in England (#4)
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** Scottish Government urged to follow Australia's lead and make vapes prescription only (#5)
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** International
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** Thai vaping trend: Rising e-cigarette use among youth sparks health concerns (#6)
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** Parliamentary activity
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** Parliamentary Questions (#7)
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** Dr Caroline Johnson debate on electronic cigarettes (#8)
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** Link of the week
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** It’s too late for my Dad, but the Government must now commit to a tobacco-free future for the next generation (#9)
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** UK
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** We want patients to have more choice over their NHS care, says Steve Barclay

The Government will move to give patients more choice over their care while Labour “tax and ban”, Steve Barclay has said.

The Health Secretary on Tuesday night stressed the need for Britons to have control over their personal well-being ahead of the publication of a 15-year blueprint for the NHS.

In a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, Mr Barclay warned “too often our health system does not put patients first” and promised to “double down” on personal choice.

Citing the decision by Wales’s Labour government to ban meal deals including products deemed to be unhealthy, Mr Barclay accused the opposition of a “one-size-fits-all approach” and praised Rishi Sunak’s recent decision to delay a ban on buy-one-get-one-free offers on supermarket treats.

He admitted the state would need to intervene in health policy “on occasion” and said there was the case for both steps to reduce smoking and “even tighter controls” on the marketing of vapes to children.

“It’s right to encourage smokers to switch to vaping, but it’s wrong that disposable vapes were being marketed to children when it is illegal to sell any vapes to children,” he said.

Addressing the obesity crisis, he added: “Activity alone is not a silver bullet. That is why new treatments in obesity are so exciting. In clinical trials, some have shown the ability to cut people’s weight by up to a fifth.”

Source: The Telegraph 28 June 2023

See also: Transcript of Steve Barclay’s speech ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Government should be called to account for ‘years of inaction on vaping’, says ASH

On Wednesday (28 June), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) urged the Health & Social Care Committee to call government to account for what it described as “years of inaction on vaping”.
The charity set out for the committee its top 3 recommendations to government:
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1.
** Put a £5 excise tax on disposable vapes: making them less affordable for children and giving more powers to Border Force and HMRC for preventing illegal vapes flooding into the UK
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2.
** Prohibit branding with appeal to children: no more bright colours, sweet names and cartoon characters
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3.
** Prohibit promotion of e-cigarettes in shops: putting vapes out of sight and out of reach of children.
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**
Deborah Arnott, chief executive, ASH said: “ASH warned the government three years ago about the legislative loophole allowing free vapes to be handed out to children.

“No action was taken. After our surveys showed the number of children vaping growing year on year, we called again and again for tougher regulation. Still no response. Inaction was understandable during Brexit, then COVID and the Ministerial merry-go-round last year, but not any longer.

“Recent government announcements that they will be ‘reviewing the rules’ is not good enough, tougher regulation is needed now, it mustn’t be kicked into the long grass yet again.”

Trading Standards Officers support the call by ASH for tougher regulation and enhanced enforcement powers for e-cigarettes.

Kate Pike, regional co-ordinator, Trading Standards North West and lead officer for vaping for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute said: “At the moment most of the responsibility for enforcing the laws on e-cigarettes rests with trading standards.

“After funding cuts to local government we have fewer than half the staff we had in 2009,[4] so we just don’t have the resources to deal with the recent explosion in illegal vapes.

“Putting excise taxes on disposable vapes would give Border Force and HMRC more powers to prevent illegal imports and distribution and sale inland.”

ASH is urging the government to implement a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to reduce the affordability, accessibility, appeal and advertising of vaping to children, but added that tougher regulation of tobacco is also essential to drive down youth vaping.

Source: Talking Retail, 28 June 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Interview: “I’m feeling gently told off”: Wes Streeting and Dr Phil Whitaker in conversation

Writing in the New Statesman, Anoosh Chakelian, presents an interview between herself, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting and GP Dr Phil Whitaker as Streeting joined him for a day at his Somerset practice. They discuss the pressures on the NHS, Labour’s solution to workforce shortages and the socio-economic determinants of health.

Whitaker highlights the important of continuity of care in primary care, using the example of someone’s long-term GP asking if they would like to give up smoking as opposed to a GP the patient has never met asking the same question. Whitaker argues that patients are more likely to respond positively if they have a pre-existing relationship with their GP.

Streeting highlights the financial limitations on the NHS and the need for reform, stating that “if the answer is only more money, we are going to fail because there isn’t a great deal of it going around.”

Whitaker observes that since 2010, there has been “no focus on the socio-economic determinants of health.” Streeting responds by highlighting mental health and obesity and arguing that the answer cannot simply be medication, but instead is about “diets, exercise, incomes, housing and well-being at work.” He states that “we can’t keep prescribing our way out of these problems, which are preventable illnesses. It’s about the responsibility we take as individuals, and conditions we create as a society.”

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** Source: The New Statesman, June 30 2023

See also: ASH Press release urging the Health and Social Care Committee to call Government to account for years of inaction on vaping ([link removed])

Recording of Health and Social Care Committee session ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Plan to train more doctors more quickly in England

Medical degrees could be shortened by a year and there will be thousands more university places for medical students, in a major plan to boost the NHS workforce in England.

The plan, which has been delayed for more than a year, has been called "historic" by NHS leaders.
But Health Secretary Steve Barclay admitted patients would not see some of the benefits for several years.

Critics say poor working conditions in the NHS could undermine the plan.

Currently, half of new doctors and nurses have to be recruited from abroad as the UK supply route has struggled to keep up with demand.

One out of every 10 posts remains unfilled - more than 110,000 vacancies.

And without action, this could rise to 360,000 by 2037, modelling for the plan suggests.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard will officially unveil the plan on Friday.

The targets for 2031 include:
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** doubling medical school places for student doctors, to 15,000 a year
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** a 50% increase in GP trainee places for junior doctors
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** 24,000 more nurse and midwife student places a year - close to double the number now
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**
There will also be a major drive on retention - including more flexible-working options and career development to provide clear routes to senior jobs. Last year, more than 40,000 nurses left the NHS.

Source: BBC News 30 June 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Scottish Government urged to follow Australia's lead and make vapes prescription only

Scottish ministers are being urged to copy Australia and make e-cigarettes prescription only in a bid to tackle a new “epidemic of vaping” among young people.

Health campaigners at ASH Scotland made the plea amid growing concern over youngsters vaping. The organisation has now urged the Scottish Government to “strongly consider following Australia’s precautionary approach to e-cigarettes” by making products containing nicotine available with a prescription only.

Since October 2021, Australians have needed a prescription to legally obtain nicotine-containing vaping products, and these are only given for a period of three to six months to smokers who have tried other ways to quit and have failed.

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “We welcome the perspectives shared by Professor Banks and Professor Daube and urge the Scottish Government to strongly consider following Australia’s precautionary approach to e-cigarettes by ensuring that, in the event of any vaping products being licensed by the MHRA in the future, they would only be made available on prescription to adults who have first tried methods to give up smoking that are known to be safe and effective.

Source: Scottish Daily Express 30 June 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])


** International
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** Thai vaping trend: Rising e-cigarette use among youth sparks health concerns

Survey data from Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) reveals a concerningly high proportion of young Thai individuals partaking in e-cigarette usage. The survey, conducted on a vast sample of 61,688 respondents ranging nationwide from April 25 to June 6, shows that 9.1% of young people use vapes. The influence of friends and peer pressure was cited as a major reason behind this concerning Thai vaping trend.

E-cigarettes, despite being illegal in Thailand, are commonly found and sold at many ephemeral street stalls, particularly dense in areas popular with tourists, contributing to the Thai vaping trend.

Delving into the specifics of their habits, 92.2% of surveyed young people reported initiating the usage of e-cigarettes alongside friends. Smaller percentages cited extended family members (3.2%) and immediate family (1.6%) as their first companions when starting to vape. Furthermore, 43.9% of respondents admitted to smoking both traditional cigarettes and vapes.

To combat this rising tide, Deputy Chief of the DHSS, Samart Thirasak, revealed that various campaigns and interventions are being implemented to discourage young individuals from smoking. This is achieved through broad media exposure and the combined efforts of the Young Health Volunteers group.

Source: The Thaiger 30 June 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Parliamentary activity
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** Parliamentary questions

Asked by Mr Gregory Campbell, Democratic Unionist Party

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Tobacco Control Plan's aim to deliver the ambition of a smoke-free society by 2030 includes vaping.

Answered by Neil O'Brien, Conservative

The ambition for England to be Smokefree by 2030 covers smoking prevalence only. It does not cover the prevalence of vaping.

Source: Hansard June 28 2023
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Full Transcript here ([link removed])


** Dr Caroline Johnson debate on electronic cigarettes

Yesterday (29th June) Dr Caroline Johnson MP led a backbench debate on vaping.
Dr Johnson (Conservative) said:
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** “E-cigarettes were introduced as a stop-smoking device, but in my opinion they have moved from being a stop- smoking device to an alternative addiction.”
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** Bright packaging detracts from an e-cigarette’s use as a smoking cessation device as it does not appeal to an adult smoker, but rather the juvenile nature of the marketing and packaging is directly targeted towards children.
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** Called for health warnings to cover 65% of the packaging, the same as a cigarette packet and ban sport sponsorships.
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** Called for the Government to ban disposable vapes.
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** Calls for a licence scheme to sell vapes in line with the licensing needed for the selling of alcohol.
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** Called for regulation, asking for harsher fines/consequences to be brought in for those selling vapes to children. She also backed ASH’s call for a £5 excise tax on every disposable vape.
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**
Wes Streeting (Labour), Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said:
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** Streeting drew attention to the Labour amendments to the Health and Care Bill in 2021 which would have restricted e-cigarette marketing to children and banned free distribution and criticised the Government for opposing the amendments.
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** Stated “The next Labour Government will come down like a ton of bricks on companies pushing nicotine to children and we will ban the branding and advertising of vapes to children.”
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** He pressed the government on progress towards 2030 and asked what has happened to the promised Tobacco Control Plan for England
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** “We would make all hospital trusts integrate smoking cessation interventions into routine care and we would expect every trust to have a named lead on smoking cessation. This would come alongside work with councils to improve access to e-cigarettes as a stop-smoking aid, and a clampdown on the pervasive myths peddled by the tobacco industry that smoking reduces stress and anxiety.”
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**
Neil O’Brien (Conservative), The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said:
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** Reiterates existing measures to tackle smoking, specifically tax rises.
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** OHID is producing a resource pack for schools which “will feature films made with young people in which they will talk in their own words about the issues around vaping, as well as a clear presentation of the latest evidence”.
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** The illicit vape enforcement squad will start field work later in the summer.
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** Says that specific action on disposables will be difficult because the industry will try to get around it by saying they are potentially refillable.
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** “Careful consideration needs to be given to the question of what is and is not disposable, if we are going to put some weight on it. I am not in any way arguing that nothing can be done, but extremely careful thought is required to ensure that the actions we take are highly effective.”
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** DEFRA will shortly be consulting on reforming the WEEE regulations to ensure vapes are properly recycled.
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** Said they will set out the UK position for COP “in due course”.
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** Said there are serious concerns about safety of heat not burn products, even more so than vapes.

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** Source: Hansard June 29 2023
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Full Transcript here ([link removed])


** Link of the week
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** It’s too late for my Dad, but the Government must now commit to a tobacco-free future for the next generation

In a blog published by Cancer research UK, Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health for Gateshead and Association of Directors of Public Health Board Member, discusses losing her dad to smoking-related disease and calls for the government to commit to measures to deliver a smokefree generation

Source: Cancer Research UK 30 June 2023
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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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