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** 14 September 2023
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** UK
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** Long-term work sickness absence ‘a serious fiscal threat’ to UK (#1)
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** Ban on single-use vapes in UK may ‘flood market with illegal products’ (#2)
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** Opinion: This vaping ban is our trivial, mindless elite at its worst (#3)
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** Parliamentary activity
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** House of Lords: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill pavement licences debate (#4)
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** UK
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** Long-term work sickness absence ‘a serious fiscal threat’ to UK

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) study for its Commission on Health and Prosperity said there is a chance to deliver “once-in-a-generation NHS reform” to avert “killer” costs and end second-rate care.

It said the number of people out of the labour market due to sickness is now at an all-time high of 2.6 million, warning “there is no road to prosperity for this nation without tackling the tide of sickness head-on”.

Experts behind the study said health and social care services have a leading role to play in making the country healthier and “more prosperous” but are currently failing to do so.

“The number of deaths that could have been avoided with timely healthcare or public health interventions is much higher in the UK than in all other comparable European nations,” the report said.

“We estimate that if the UK had an avoidable mortality rate similar to those in comparable European countries, around 240,000 fewer people would have died in the decade from 2010.”

“Although service performance has been declining, service expenditure has been rising,” the report said.

“On our current trajectory, we will increasingly ‘spend more to get less’.”

In a 10-point plan, the report said there is a need to prevent future ill-health through creating neighbourhood health hubs to deliver integrated services in every neighbourhood.

The IPPR report said the reforms could save taxpayers up to £205 billion over the next decade. It said the annual saving is worth the equivalent of the current UK defence budget by 2033/34.

Lord James Bethell, former health minister and commissioner, said: “Sick Britain is costing us our lives, our livelihoods and harming the UK economy.

“If we want to change course, we must stop pretending that the answers are always more hospitals and more acute staff.

“Instead, we must start taking action to reduce demand and need for healthcare, through prevention.

“A mission for a healthy Britain, that targets the concurrent epidemics of obesity, gambling, addiction and online harm, is a precondition for any sustainable, effective national health service in the 21st century.”

Source: The Evening Standard, 13 September 2023

See also: The Institute for Public Policy Research - For public health and public finances: Reforming health and social care ([link removed])
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** Ban on single-use vapes in UK may ‘flood market with illegal products’

Leading doctors and councils have welcomed reports that ministers are preparing to ban single-use vapes in the UK, but others have expressed fears a ban could lead to a “flood” of illegal products on the market.

The reports of plans to stop the sale of disposable e-cigarettes come as fears grow about their environment impact and the health risks they pose to the large number of teenagers taking up vaping.

An announcement from the government is expected soon after it concluded that single-use vapes are aimed at children.

Scott Butler, executive director at Material Focus, an environmental charity, is worried that a ban could lead to “hard to control illegal sales and an established illegal vape market”. He said: “If the legitimate industry is banned, then there will be no mechanism to deal with all the operational challenges and costs of illegally sold vapes which have the same challenges.”

Last week Material Focus research found that 5m single-use vapes are being thrown away in the UK every week, a fourfold increase on 2022. Butler said that if the market went underground there would be no way to encourage retailers to recycle these products.

Illegal vapes are already a big issue. In June the Guardian revealed that millions of illegal and potentially harmful vapes have been seized in the past three years, with trading standards saying this was the “tip of the iceberg”.

Source: The Guardian, 12 September 2023

See also: ASH - Policy options to tackle the issue of disposable (singleuse) vapes ([link removed].) | ASH – Response to vaping consultation calls on government to urgently implement four high impact interventions ([link removed])
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** Opinion: This vaping ban is our trivial, mindless elite at its worst

Writing for the Telegraph, parliamentary sketchwriter Madeline Grant, criticises the proposed ban on disposable vapes and argues that this will fail to adequately tackle the issue of youth vaping. Grant also discusses her own experience of quitting smoking by using disposable vapes.

Grant writes that vapes pose a fraction of the risk that tobacco cigarettes do and that disposables are particularly convenient for smokers looking to quit cigarettes. She states that the solution to the issues presented by disposable vapes is to “enforce existing regulations, not create brand-new ones” and argues that a ban should be a “last resort.”

Grant counters the “gateway hypothesis”, the notion that children will pick up vaping and then move on to smoking, by pointing to smoking rates among young people having halved between 2011 and 2021 whilst vaping has become more popular. She points outs that vapes are in general being used by current and ex-smokers rather than never-smokers.

Grant highlights the example of Australia, which recently banned vapes entirely (unless prescribed by a doctor), leading to a rise in the black market for e-cigarettes. Vapes sourced through the black market lack any safeguards.

Additionally, she argues that since Australia’s “heavy-handed” approach to vapes, tobacco usage among 14 to 17 year olds has actually increased from 2% to 13% between 2018 and 2023.

Grant concludes by criticising the government’s fixation on addressing “trivial issues” rather than major structural issues in the UK, such as pressured health and social care services.

Source: The Telegraph, 13 September 2023
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** Parliamentary activity
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** House of Lords: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill pavement licences debate

On Wednesday, Peers debated an amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill to introduce a 100% smokefree seating condition into the current pavement licencing regulations. The amendment was tabled by Lord Young of Cookham, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Baroness Northover and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath. The purpose of the amendment was to ensure that all pavement licences granted by local authorities are 100% smokefree.

Lord Young of Cookham ([link removed]) introduced the amendment and said that it had broad public and cross-party support, adding that the current system is too inconsistent and bureaucratic.

Baroness Northover ([link removed]) laid out the public health case for the amendment, saying that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that this amendment would help protect hospitality workers.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester ([link removed]) added to create a smokefree society, we first need to create environments that are smokefree. He adds that being around other smokers is a key factor in relapse amongst smokers trying to quit.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath ([link removed]) added that we are behind schedule in achieving the smokefree 2030 ambition, and that banning smoking in more public places would contribute to a smokefree 2030.

In response, Earl Howe ([link removed]) , speaking for the government, said that the “Government fully recognise the importance of this issue for public health” but that the decision to implement smokefree pavement seating should be left up to local councils.

The amendment was not pushed to a vote and will not be included in the bill.

Source: Hansard, 13 September 2023

See also: ASH briefing - Smokefree Pavement Licences ([link removed])
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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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