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** 18 October 2023
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** UK
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** Gambling firms to be forced to pay about £100m a year to NHS (#1)
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** Opinion: PM’s bold decision on tobacco will promote good health for generations (#2)
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** Opinion: New law aims to create Britain's first smoke free generation (#3)
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** UK
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** Gambling firms to be forced to pay about £100m a year to NHS

Gambling companies will be forced to pay about £100m a year to the NHS to fund addiction research, prevention and treatment, as part of government changes that will replace a longstanding system of voluntary contributions.

Under a mandatory levy, which has been welcomed by clinicians and campaigners, online bookmakers and casinos will pay 1% of what they win from punters.

Traditional betting shops and land-based casinos, which have higher fixed costs such as rent, will pay the levy at 0.4% of revenue.

Based on industry income of about £10bn in 2022, the levy would raise £100m, paid directly into NHS services, the government said.

The change is part of wider plans to overhaul gambling laws in Great Britain that were published earlier this year.

The money will help support specialist addiction clinics across the country. Seven new NHS centres are due to open by the end of the year, taking the total to 15, up from just one in 2019.

The government said this meant the industry would “no longer have a say” in how funds meant to help addicts stop gambling are spent.

Under the existing agreement, the industry has typically donated about 0.1% of its revenues, less than £10m in some years, with some operators accused of paying “insulting” nominal amounts or nothing at all.

As recently as 2019, the industry fell short of a £10m target for voluntary donations to GambleAware, which has been the chief conduit of industry donations until now.

But the voluntary system has been tarnished by concerns that the industry wields too much power over how the money is distributed. The NHS has refused to accept funding through this route.

The mandatory levy was one of a string of proposals set out in a government white paper on overhaul of gambling regulation, published in April 2023. Other measures, such as lower stake limits on online slot machines and “affordability checks” to prevent large losses, are still out for consultation, with no decision expected until next year.

Source: The Guardian, 17 October 2023

See also: Department for Culture, Media and Sport - High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age ([link removed])

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** Opinion: PM’s bold decision on tobacco will promote good health for generations

Writing for the Express, Michelle Mitchell, the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK (CRUK) discusses Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s proposal to increase the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year so a child aged 14 today will never legally be able to buy tobacco.

Mitchell states that this would have “lasting legacy for the nation” because smoking is the responsible for the largest number of preventable deaths in the UK. Mitchell adds that the costs of smoking are not just borne by the smokers themselves, but also by the economy (smoking costs an estimated £14bn a year in lost productivity and early death) and by the NHS.

Mitchell writes that we should not overlook the personal cost to smokers however, who will often experience illness and distress.

Mitchell states the PM should “face down any criticism” with the knowledge that he has the public onside and points to a recent YouGov poll which found that nearly two thirds of those surveyed supported the policy.

Mitchell concludes by writing that the new policy should be in the upcoming King’s speech and to ensure that it is brought to parliament before the end of the year because any delay will result in more tobacco related illness and death.

Source: The Express, 17 October 2023

See also: Prime Minister to create ‘smokefree generation’ by ending cigarette sales to those born on or after 1 January 2009 ([link removed])
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** Opinion: New law aims to create Britain's first smoke free generation

Writing in the East Anglian Daily Times, Dr Dan Poulter, practising NHS hospital doctor and MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, discusses Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s proposal to increase the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year so a child aged 14 today will never legally be able to buy tobacco.

Poulter writes that as a doctor, he has first hand experience of the damage smoking can cause to someone. He also writes that that children who grow up around smokers are four times more likely to take up smoking themselves.

Poulter states that smoking is a significant driver of inequalities across the UK. In Suffolk for instance, deaths from smoking are twice as high in deprived areas than in more affluent areas.

As such, Poulter writes that he supports what would be a “historic new law”, saying that it would save hundreds of thousands of lives and prevent “vast numbers of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other lung diseases”.

Concluding, Poulter writes that he is proud his Government has taken this necessary step in “the battle to stop smoking” and that it will result in future generations having a better chance of leading longer and healthier lives.

Source: The East Anglian Daily Times, 18 October 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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