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** 4 March 2024
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** UK
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** Senior councillors write to the prime minister to call for tobacco legislation (#3)
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** What will a vaping tax in budget mean for the tobacco industry? (#1)
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** Young vape users more likely to suffer anxiety and loneliness, study finds (#2)
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** Four in five billboard ads in England and Wales in poorer areas (#4)
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** Worst-off find it harder than well-off to access NHS care, survey finds (#5)
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** UK
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** Senior councillors write to the prime minister to call for tobacco legislation

A senior group of councillors from across the political spectrum wrote to the prime minister on March 1, 2024, to urge him to publish the ‘Tobacco and Vapes Bill’ at the earliest opportunity.

In October, the prime minister announced that the government would raise the age of sale for those born before 2009, and the government confirmed they would proceed with a bill on February 12 following a consultation on this and further vaping regulations. Local leaders are concerned that the bill risks not passing before a general election, given its importance to the work councils do to protect the public’s health from smoking.

In their letter to the prime minister, they said, “We know that the proposals in the bill are popular with our communities who want to see the next generation protected from smoking and to see vaping appropriately regulated to prevent teen use while allowing adult smokers to switch.”

Even before the prime minister made his announcement in October 2023 councils had already placed a high priority on tackling smoking. In a new survey published on March 1 and funded by Cancer Research UK, the health charity ASH found that councils had the highest level of priority on tackling smoking since they were handed public health responsibilities in 2013.

Two-thirds of councils reported that smoking was a high priority when the survey was conducted in August and September 2023. Since then, the prime minister has made his landmark legislative commitment alongside £70m in new funding to enable councils to support many more smokers to quit. With new funding, councils will play a key role in delivering on the vision of a smoke-free country.

Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive Action on Smoking and Health, said, “Councils are vital partners in supporting more smokers to quit and the government should heed their call for action. New funding to help smokers is very welcome, but it must be backed by legislative action to bring about lasting change.”

Source: Dental Nursing, 1 March 2024

See also: ASH PR: Senior councillors write to PM calling for Tobacco and Vapes Bill to be published ([link removed])
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** What will a vaping tax in budget mean for the tobacco industry?

Big tobacco faces a renewed attempt to stub out smoking when Jeremy Hunt takes to the dispatch box in the Commons to deliver his budget on Wednesday.

The industry has become accustomed to an escalating tobacco duty, but for the first time since the e-cigarette market emerged a decade ago, the government is also set to introduce a levy on vapes.

Amid the fragile state of the public finances, Hunt is expected to announce that a tax will be paid on imports and by manufacturers in an attempt to make vaping unaffordable for children.

Alongside the duty, which will be levied on the liquid in vapes, with higher levels of tax for products with more nicotine, there is also expected to be a one-off increase in tobacco duty to ensure that vaping remains a cheaper alternative.

The latest plans come amid a broader government clampdown, including an eventual ban on cigarette sales and the outlawing of disposable vapes, part of what supporters call an “unprecedented set of measures to hasten the day when smoking is obsolete”.

News of the planned levies hit shares in Imperial Brands, the UK’s tobacco market leader, with the stock falling more than 6 per cent since a Times report on Tuesday, and smaller vaping companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Supreme, which makes the 88Vape brand and also distributes the market-leading Chinese brands ElfBar and Lost Mary, was down about 15 per cent.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) charity, agreed, saying a vape tax would help stop the “tsunami of illegal vapes flooding the market”. But she said vaping must remain cheaper than smoking to encourage the use of e-cigarettes by smokers trying to quit.

The government believes that increasing the price of tobacco has helped to reduce the number of young smokers because of their smaller disposable income. Yet ministers are “mindful of the need to balance a price increase that deters young people with ensuring that vaping remains a more affordable option than smoking, to encourage adult smokers to quit”.

Source: The Times, 3 March 2024

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** Young vape users more likely to suffer anxiety and loneliness, study finds

Young vape users are more likely to suffer from anxiety, loneliness and insomnia, a study of students has found.

The study found vapers were 20 per cent more likely to have symptoms of anxiety than those who never used vapes but were no more likely to have symptoms of depression, researchers said.

The participants, who had an average age of 20, were analysed using clinical tests, which included various mental health assessments, their alcohol use and sleep quality.

The study, conducted by the University of Surrey, was also the first to assess the impact of vaping on loneliness and rumination, which is the act of repetitive thinking and dwelling on negative feelings. It found that both were more common in the young adults who vaped.

Researchers also found that people who used e-cigarettes drank twice as much alcohol each week as those who did not and had lower levels of self-compassion.

The study could not determine causation but the researchers suggested that people with anxiety may be more likely to “self-medicate” by vaping, and that action to improve mindfulness, and reduce rumination and loneliness, may make people less likely to take up vaping.

The authors acknowledged the study had limitations, analysing 316 students, including just 49 who regularly used a vape, and the majority of participants being women.

Source: The Telegraph, 1 March 2020

Editorial Note: Of the 49 participants who vapes, 14 were also cigarette users

See also: Personality Risk Factors for Vape Use amongst Young Adults and Its Consequences for Sleep and Mental Health ([link removed])
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** Four in five billboard ads in England and Wales in poorer areas

More than four in five outdoor billboard advertisements are in the poorest half of England and Wales, leading experts to warn that the discrepancy risks deepening health inequalities.

While billboards may be seen by many simply as eyesores, campaigners argue they negatively affect people’s lives in intersecting ways, by pushing unhealthy products such as fast food and alcohol, encouraging environmentally harmful consumption and lowering mental wellbeing.

Research by Adfree Cities shows areas with the lowest levels of disposable income were home to 62,953 outdoor ads (82%), compared with just 13,384 in the more affluent half.

While it did not measure whether more unhealthy products are advertised in more deprived areas nationally, industry data lists three fast-food chains among the top five spenders on UK outdoor advertising in 2023.

Prof Emma Boyland, the chair of food marketing and child health at the University of Liverpool, said advertising risked worsening health disparities including obesity, with children appearing particularly vulnerable to marketing.

Boyland, who wrote the report’s preface, called for concerted policy change to mitigate these health risks. “We need to think about how to reduce inequality. The research shows the clustering effect, where it’s not just one single factor – people are being hit by all angles. They say it’s damaging to the economy to regulate advertising but the costs we’re spending to deal with obesity are massive.”

Source: The Guardian, 4 March 2024

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** Worst-off find it harder than well-off to access NHS care, survey finds

Poorer people find it much harder to access NHS care than the well-off and have a worse experience when they do get it, research by the health service’s consumer watchdog has found.
Those on the lowest incomes have much more difficulty getting a GP appointment, dental care or help with mental health problems, according to a survey by Healthwatch England.

The findings have prompted fears that the NHS is too often a “two-tier service” with access closely related to wealth, and calls for it to do more to make services more accessible to everyone.

42% of those who described their financial situation as “really struggling” said they had trouble getting to see a GP, double the 21% of those who were “very comfortable”. 28% of the very poor had difficulty accessing mental health treatment, whereas only 9% of the very comfortable did so.

Healthwatch also found a socioeconomic divide in people’s experiences of NHS care: 21% of the “really struggling” felt they were not listened to by the last health professional they saw, whereas just 7% of the better-off said that. Twice as many poorer people (18%) as richer people (9%) felt the person they last saw did not involve them in decisions about their care.

“Our findings are really worrying because they show that poorer people in our society find it much harder than the well-off to access vital NHS care when they need it, such as a GP appointment or mental health help, and are also much more likely to feel that they’ve had a worse experience when they are seen”, said Louise Ansari, Healthwatch’s chief executive.

Source: The Guardian, 4 March 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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