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** 14 February 2024
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** UK
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** Opinion: The UK isn’t a nanny state — but for the sake of our health it should be (#1)
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** Fighting fit for life: Creating a smokefree generation for the health of the nation (#2)
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** International
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** Japan Tobacco sees more growth in cigarette revenues in 2024 (#3)
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** British American Tobacco has option to buy back Russian business (#4)
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** UK
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** Opinion: The UK isn’t a nanny state — but for the sake of our health it should be

Writing in the financial times, Aveek Bhattacharya of the Social Market Foundation discusses the recent trend in the UK towards public health interventionism, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to ban cigarette sales to those born after 2008, and Labour leader Keir Starmer's promotion of a Child Health Action Plan, which includes policies such as banning junk food advertisement before the watershed and toothbrushing programs in schools.

Bhattacharya considers what could be behind the newfound popularity of such policies, speculating that such interventions may be a result of people becoming more accustomed to state intervention during the pandemic. However, Bhattacharya suggests that public opinion has long favoured restrictions on smoking, drinking, gambling, and obesity. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy, a tax on sugary drinks, is cited as an example where public backlash was minimal.

Instead, the article suggests that it is not public opinion on such issues that politicians are concerned about. Rather, they fear backlash from the media, industry, and their colleagues.

Bhattacharya cites the Scottish governments effort to introduce minimum alcohol pricing which was met with legal challenges that delayed the policy for six years. Meanwhile, in Chile, anti-obesity measures including taxes on sugary drinks faced 14 years of bartering with industry.

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of population-level restrictions make them attractive to politicians, but Bhattacharya questions whether politicians are ready to tackle more challenging issues. Bhattacharya argues that the need to regulate tobacco is “widely accepted” but questions whether a future Labour government will take the same approach to other health issues such as raising alcohol duty or taxing unhealthy food, which could face fierce resistance.

The article concludes that the "nanny state" war is yet to be won, and it remains to be seen how much politicians truly believe in such measures.

Source: The Financial Times, 13 February 2024

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** Fighting fit for life: Creating a smokefree generation for the health of the nation

Tobacco is the UK’s biggest preventable cause of ill health, disability and death.
In England alone, it claims the lives of 64,000 people each year. Across the UK as a whole it is responsible for 80,000 deaths annually.

As many as 83 per cent of smokers light up their first cigarette before the age of 20. Yet three quarters regret it and wish they had never started.

The physical and health benefits of giving up begin almost instantly. But it can be difficult to quit this addiction – which kills two in three smokers.

Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, says: “Smoking is based on addiction, and most people wish they had never taken it up. They try to stop, and they cannot. Their choice has been taken away. As a doctor, I have seen many people in hospitals desperate to stop smoking, but they cannot.”

This is why the Government has proposed a new law aimed at protecting children and young people by preventing them from ever being legally sold tobacco.
The legislation aims to create a “smokefree generation” by raising the age of sale for tobacco in England by one year every year.

That would mean children who are turning 15 this year or younger can never be sold cigarettes.

The proposed measures will also crack down on youth vaping – which carries the risk of harm and addiction for children – by reducing the appeal and availability of vapes.

Under the plans, existing smokers will also receive more help to quit. Funding for local Stop Smoking Services is due to double, to almost £140 million a year.
There’s also an array of free tools, tips and more being made available to help people become smokefree in 2024.

Keen gardener Keith Foster was 16 when he took his first puff on a cigarette. Keith started to notice health improvements within days of quitting.

“I could taste my dinner better and had much more energy. I used to wheeze, but within a week of giving up, I could breathe clearly again. It made all the difference. I enjoy gardening and don’t get out of breath as much as I did back then, and I’m 81 now.”

Keith says his brother David, 82, smoked most of his life before giving up two years ago.

“It’s left him with emphysema and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). My advice to anyone is do not start smoking. Leave it alone”.

Source: The Sun, 14 February 2024

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** International
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** Japan Tobacco sees more growth in cigarette revenues in 2024

Japan Tobacco on Tuesday forecast a 6.3% rise in 2024 core revenue for its cigarette business, as higher prices and growth in income from smoking alternatives offsets further volume declines for its traditional products.

While Japan Tobacco also has divisions focused on pharmaceuticals and processed food, tobacco makes up the vast majority of its income.

The maker of Benson & Hedges and Winston cigarettes said it also expected its key brands to keep growing market share, further helping to cushion the blow to volumes. Ever-stricter regulation and a growing awareness of health risks have seen smoking rates fall in some markets.

Masamichi Terabatake, President and CEO of Japan Tobacco, said in its full-year results statement that traditional tobacco will continue to be the profit engine of the group, but it would also invest further in expanding in smoking alternatives like vapes.

Like rivals, the company is looking to build up new revenue as its traditional streams come under pressure. It is focused in particular on its heated tobacco device Ploom X.

It has ramped up its efforts to roll the device out globally, and wants to make it available in 40 markets by 2026, up from 13 at the end of 2023.

It reported a 5.9% increase in core revenues in 2023 - just ahead of its guidance. Its adjusted operating profit also beat the forecasts it provided in the third quarter, rising 4.4% in constant currency.

Source: Daily Mail, 13 February 2024

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** British American Tobacco has option to buy back Russian business

British American Tobacco has retained “call” options to reacquire its Russian and Belarusian businesses, it has emerged.

The owner of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes agreed to sell the businesses in September, 18 months after it had committed to doing so in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, BAT did not disclose at the time that it had retained the option to buy them back.

The FTSE 100 company sold the businesses to a consortium led by members of its Russia management team. In September it said that it would no longer have a presence in Russia or Belarus.

BAT’s annual report, though, reveals that “as part of the disposal agreements, the group holds call options to reacquire” the entities.

Russia has been an important market for the tobacco industry and accounted for about 3.1 per cent of BAT’s group revenue and 2.4 per cent of its adjusted operating profit.

Asked why BAT had not disclosed the option when the sale was announced, a spokesman said: “As with many such transactions, the terms of the sale were confidential until we were legally obliged to disclose them. However, as disclosed in our annual report, no value has been ascribed to these options and the likelihood that we would exercise them within the foreseeable future is remote.”

The options expire within two years of completion of the deal and BAT said that sanctions and counter-sanctions involving Moscow restricted its ability to exercise them.

BAT first committed to exit Russia in March 2022 as multinationals came under mounting pressure to leave in the wake of the war.

Source: The Times, 14 February 2024

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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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