View this email in your browser ([link removed])
** 09 April 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
** UK
------------------------------------------------------------
** Quitting smoking even a few days before getting COVID-19 could help (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------
** Philip Morris calculator promotes heated tobacco product to protect profits ahead of menthol tobacco ban (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------
** Essex County Council launches COVID-19 digital wellbeing service (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------
** Somerset vape shop forced to close to comply with lockdown rules (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------
** UK
------------------------------------------------------------
**
------------------------------------------------------------
** Coronavirus has infected thousands in the UK but giving up smoking before getting COVID-19 can make a huge difference. Professor Linda Bauld, Bruce and John Usher Chair of Public Health in The Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, explained that the impact of a respiratory disease can be made less severe for smokers who quit just days before transmission.
Speaking to Sky News, Professor Bauld said: "The benefits of stopping smoking start almost immediately. I know it's going to be difficult for people when they're stuck at home and we're all worried about alcohol, drug and tobacco use at the moment. It's hard for everybody but I think this will be the right time and I certainly think for respiratory health in particular and the other conditions we know that are linked to tobacco use."
Host Adam Boulton asked: "So, if you stop smoking now it could improve your chances if you get COVID-19?" Professor Bauld added: "I think we've not seen much data on specific cases but what we know generally about stopping smoking and having any kind of infection. Their recovery will particularly be better if they stop smoking and that includes quitting smoking even a few days before having to use healthcare services."
Source: The Express, 8 April 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
** See also: Today is the day - Quit for Covid information and resources ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
**
------------------------------------------------------------
** Philip Morris has launched a calculator to promote their IQOS products to retailers by estimating the effect the menthol cigarette ban could have on businesses.
The calculator, launched at menthol-ban-retail.co.uk, uses electronic point of sale data from an independent study of 2,600 stores nationwide which analyses local spending habits of menthol cigarette smokers. This includes menthol cigarette purchases and additional shop items purchased in the same transaction. Retailers are asked to put their postcode into the calculator to see the potential impact the ban could have on their business over a week, a month or a year. The results are intended to encourage retailers to stock alternative products that circumvent the ban and ensure continuing business for tobacco manufacturers.
Prominently, the calculator enables retailers to see the revenue they could potentially generate by stocking menthol HEETS – the tobacco sticks used in Philip Morris's heated tobacco product IQOS - which are unaffected by the ban.
------------------------------------------------------------
**
Source: Talking Retail, 8 April 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
**
Essex County Council has launched a Covid-19 Welfare platform to support vulnerable people through the pandemic. The platform was commissioned by the county council and delivered by its care services provider Provide CIC to enable vulnerable residents to request support and volunteers to register. Health and social care professionals are enabled to match the two.
The platform has a remote stop smoking service in addition to other community services. 350 call handlers and over 3,500 volunteers have been trained in using the platform.
Source: UK Authority, 9 April 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
**
A vape shop in Somerset has been closed by the local council after staying open against Government lockdown guidelines. The owners protested against the closure of their store, saying they provide a vital service during the COVID-19 crisis.
The owners said: “We are not open to ‘money grab’ as some people say – we provide an essential service to our customers and we don’t want to let them down. We implemented a one in, one out policy and cleaned down the counters after every customer to stay safe. All staff were checking their temperatures every day. We still believe it’s much safer for people to visit a vape shop with these policies in place than a hardware store or supermarket full of people where people can pick up things and put them down, which is not possible in a vape shop.”
Vape industry organisations, like the Independent British Vape Trade Association, are campaigning for vape shops to be exempted from the Government ordered retail lockdown, arguing that failing to do so could lead to many people who are using e-cigarettes to quit smoking reverting to cigarettes, leading to greater health harms and pressure on health services.
Source: The Weston Mercury, 8 April 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
** See also: IBVTA - IBVTA writes to Business and Public Health Ministers ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])
For more information call 020 7404 0242, email
[email protected] (mailto:
[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
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.
============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
6th Floor New House
Hatton Garden
London
EC1N 8JY
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
