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** 19 October 2023
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** UK
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** Vape maker Supreme to ditch bright-coloured products and rename flavours to deter underage use (#1)
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** Beer and wine bottles could be slapped with cancer warning stickers in Australia (#2)
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** Exclusive: Lack of pharmacy representation on ICBs, warns health committee chair (#3)
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** UK
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** Vape maker Supreme to ditch bright-coloured products and rename flavours to deter underage use

Vape maker Supreme has said it will stop making brightly coloured products, use plain packaging and bring in "age-appropriate" flavour names.

It comes after the government promised to crack down on the marketing of vaping products to children.

Supreme said its items would become "plain black, white or grey" and promised it was "fully committed to eradicating underage vaping".

An eight-week consultation is considering options such as a total ban on disposable vapes, restricting their sale and stopping flavours and colours that appeal to youngsters.

On-the-spot fines could also be issued to shops that illegally sell vapes.
According to figures from the charity Action on Smoking and Health, the number of children using vapes in the past three years has tripled, with 20.5% of youngsters aged between 11 and 17 having tried vaping in 2023.

Supreme said "shelf appeal for underage vapers" would be reduced by renaming flavours. For example, Peach Dream will become Peach and Sweet Strawberry will become just Strawberry. The items themselves will also no longer use bright colours to try to reduce their appeal to under-18s.

However, the changes will only affect its own 88Vape brand and not those it imports, such as ElfBar and Liberty Flights.

Supreme chief executive Sandy Chadha said the company still believed vapes were "critical" in helping smokers to quit. But he said he was "desperate to ensure that those flavours do not spark any interest in younger people".

England's chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, has said that while vaping is less dangerous than smoking, it "still has risks and can cause addiction".

Source: Sky News, 18 October 2023
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**
Editorial note: Supreme was recently criticised for using product names ‘aimed at children’ see [link removed]
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** Beer and wine bottles could be slapped with cancer warning stickers in Australia

Beer and wine bottles could soon have health warning labels similar to cigarette packaging - if the government listens to calls from national health organisations.

The government is seeking ways to raise awareness about the health risks associated with alcohol consumption, with Australia's major health bodies and organisations pushing for warning labels to address this.

Alcoholic beverage companies would be forced to put warning labels on their bottles and cans about alcohol increasing the likelihood of developing cancer, heart disease, liver disease and other health issues.

Assistant minister for health and aged care, Ged Kearney, is expected to consider the idea. ‘'The Australian government recognises the importance of labelling to raise consumer awareness of, and seek to prevent, alcohol-related harms'’ Kearney told Nine Newspapers.

Australian Medical Association resident Professor Steve Robson said putting labels on bottles and cans would be beneficial in informing people about alcohol harm. He said ‘’Warning labels on the effects of alcohol can help consumers make better choices, improving their health and reducing the pressures on the health sector that are directly related to excessive drinking’’.

About 6500 people die every year from alcohol consumption in Australia. Alcohol contributes to more deaths in the country than every illegal drug combined.

FARE Australia commissioned a poll that found that 78 per cent of Aussies supported putting health warning labels on bottles and cans of beer and wine.

Source: Daily Mail, 19 October 2023
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** Exclusive: Lack of pharmacy representation on ICBs, warns health committee chair

Integrated care boards (ICBs) do not have ‘enough’ pharmacy representation, the Health and Social Care Committee chair Steve Brine has told The Pharmacist.
The former pharmacy minister and Conservative MP for Winchester also said he felt primary care networks (PCNs) were ‘way too GP dominated’.

Mr Brine suggested he wanted to see pharmacists better integrated within PCNs and ICBs.

He told The Pharmacist there were examples of ‘really good practice’ where pharmacists ‘are integrated through the Pharmacy Integration Fund, working in general practice’.

Mr Brine added that he hoped the ‘promise of PCNs can be realised’.
He suggested: ‘If we're saying that pharmacy is part of primary care, then maybe we should be bold enough to see it as being physically part of primary care.

‘My point is that primary care networks need to start thinking a little bit more innovatively and imaginatively than they are. And I don't see that from PCNs. What I see from PCNs and ICBs is thinking way too analogue, thinking way too [much] in their separate work streams,’ Mr Brine said.

Also at The Pharmacy Show, he chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for England, David Webb, said that pharmacists working across community, practices and hospitals are ‘getting much closer’ to the idea of being ‘one workforce’ than has previously been the case.

Source: The Pharmacist, 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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