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PACKET IN Smokers face BAN outside pubs and restaurants under major rule change demanded by officials
Smoking would be banned from all pavement seating outside pubs and restaurants under a crackdown demanded by councillors.
Ministers are being urged to make the spaces cigarette-free to help existing smokers kick the habit and stop kids taking it up.
Al freso drinking and dining ballooned during the pandemic and their huge popularity has seen many venues keep them in place.
While bosses must make some pavement seating smokefree, it is up to local councils to prohibit smoking completely. But in a letter to Health Secretary Steve Barclay and Communities Secretary Michael Gove, councillors representing 16 London authorities urge them to introduce a national smokefree edict.
They say current bureaucracy stops many town halls imposing an al fresco smoking ban and made the push ahead of a Parliamentary vote on the issue.
Cllr Jim Dickson, Joint Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities at Lambeth Council said: “Smoking places a major burden on many of our most deprived communities and costs our city £3billion every year in lost economic productivity and health and social care costs. “London councils are committed to taking action to make our city smokefree, but we can’t do it alone.
“The government should seize this opportunity to introduce national smokefree pavement seating to improve the health of Londoners and people across the country.”
Lord Young of Cookham has tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up Bill that would introduce the ban.
He said: “There is a clear consensus among the public that outdoor eating and drinking areas should be free from cigarette smoke. This is also much more practical for businesses and councils who want clear rules that are straightforward to communicate. A national smokefree pavement licence condition would protect public health, particularly child health, while cutting red tape for councils.”
The Government is committed to making England “smokefree” by 2030, meaning fewer than 5 per cent of the public using cigarettes.
Source: The Sun, 11 September 2023
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Ban on disposable vapes to stop children becoming addicted
Disposable vapes will be banned to stop children becoming addicted to the devices under government proposals to be unveiled as early as next week.
Disposable vapes are often sold in bright colours and with flavours such as “bubble gum”. In some shops they are positioned by front counters near sweets.
The decision will be revealed in a consultation issued by the Health Department shortly. It has been pencilled in for next week, though timings could yet slip.
Ministers are understood to have decided not to go a step further and copy Australia by banning all vaping without a prescription, because they have accepted the benefits of e-cigarettes to help smokers to quit.
The Government has a nuanced position on vaping, seeing it as a good alternative for adults who smoke but a habit that has health downsides for those who do not.
Prof Sir Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, has said: “If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and marketing to children is utterly unacceptable.”
A call to evidence was issued last April, with the aim of clamping down on youth vaping.
A new consultation, honing in on specific proposals, will put forward the disposable vape ban.
A law change would likely be needed, but it remains to be seen if time could be found in Parliament before the next general election, expected in autumn 2024.
Earlier this week it was estimated that 11.6 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain had tried vaping, up from 7.7 per cent last year.
Source: The Telegraph, 12 September 2023
Editorial Note: The ban has not yet been confirmed by the government, a DHSC spokesperson said: “We are concerned about the rise in youth vaping and the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. That is why we launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products – and explore where the government can go further. We will set out our response in due course.”- Quoted in The Guardian
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The Guardian view on preventable cancers: we need to avoid illness as well as cure it
This Guardian editorial sets out their position on preventable cancers following the publication of new figures showing 184,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with avoidable cancers this year.
Diet and tobacco use are highlighted as key causes of preventable illnesses. However, there is debate about the governments role when it comes to restricting harmful substances and activities such as alcohol and smoking. In March, the government “shelved plans to toughen up food industry rules” despite concerns about an increased reliance on cheap processed foods. The editorial also highlights gambling as a “lifestyle-related illness” which poses severe psychological problems that are also putting pressure on the NHS.
The Guardian reflects that in the ten years since the government gave councils public health responsibilities, they have cut public health budgets, effectively making that move ‘‘hollow’’. The authors also highlight the establishment of Integrated Care Systems as placing further uncertainty on resources being put towards prevention.
The editorial argues that although clear messaging on harms is key, “information on its own is not enough.” The authors argue there is a clear correlation between poor health, poverty and inequality, which will need to be tackled to improve public health. The Guardian concludes: ‘’While it is the NHS’s job to treat illnesses, including cancers, responsibility for preventing them goes much wider than this’’.
Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2023
See also: Frontier study: The societal and economic costs of preventable cancers in the UK
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CHECK UP Over 1million current and ex-smokers to get free lung cancer checks on the NHS – are you eligible?
More than 1million current and ex-smokers are being given lung cancer checks on the NHS. They have been invited for a free screening as part of the biggest programme of its kind in the health service’s history.
Dozens of scanning sites have been set up at football stadiums, shopping car parks and town centres across England. Some 2,400 cancers have already been caught through the scheme, with three quarters found at the earliest stages of one and two — when survival chances are highest.
Professor Peter Johnson, of the NHS, said: “The NHS targeted lung check programme is the latest in a series of measures to catch cancer early. There are also record numbers receiving treatment for cancer over the last year thanks to the health service investing in the latest technology and treatments for patients.
“Symptoms of lung cancer can include a long-standing cough and persistent breathlessness and former or current smokers are most at risk.”
The NHS Targeted Lung Health Check aims to spot the disease before it becomes symptomatic in current and former smokers, who are more at risk.
Michelle Mitchell, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Lung cancer takes more lives than any other cancer, but an early diagnosis can greatly improve the chance of survival. That’s why lung health checks for people at high risk of the disease are so important. It's a testament to hard working NHS staff that over one million eligible people in England have been invited to attend an appointment and we urge people to take up this potentially lifesaving offer.”
Source: The Sun, 9 September 2023
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US: Did Tobacco Companies Also Get Us Hooked On Junk Food? New Research Says Yes
The chemically addictive fatty, salty and sweet foods that make up 68% of the American food supply have historically been pushed to consumers by the nation's leading tobacco sales companies, new research shows, suggesting the same companies responsible for what has been called a “smoking epidemic” could also be partially blamed for a decline in Americans’ health.
Food producers owned by tobacco companies like Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds developed a disproportionately high number of what scientists call "hyper-palatable" foods between 1988 and 2001, a study out Friday by University of Kansas researchers said, "resulting in substantial tobacco-related influence on the U.S. food system."
Foods produced by tobacco-owned companies were 29% more likely to be classified as hyper-palatable—having a certain mix of ingredients designed to be addictive—due to fat and sodium, the study’s authors found, and 80% more likely to be ultrahigh in carbohydrates and sodium than foods that were produced by other companies.
Tobacco companies largely divested from the U.S. food system in the early 2000s, the research published in peer-reviewed journal Addiction says, but "the shadow of big tobacco remained"
Food producers that were once tobacco-owned include Kraft-General Foods—merged together by Phillip Morris to become what was then the largest food company in the world—and Nabisco, which together produced products under the brands Oreo, Ritz, Miracle Whip and Oscar Meyer, among others.
“These foods may be designed to make you eat more than you planned,” lead author Tera Fazzino said in a statement. “It’s not just about personal choice and watching what you eat—they can kind of trick your body into eating more than you actually want.”
Ultimately, the study found that the foods produced by tobacco companies were "designed to maximize public consumption at great risk to public health."
Source: Forbes, 8 September 2023
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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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