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Charities call on next government to revive ban on smoking ‘as priority’
The next government must revive legislation designed to ban young people from ever being able to legally smoke “as a priority”, charities have urged.
It comes as analysis revealed the majority of Britons back plans to phase out the sale of tobacco, which were announced by prime minister Rishi Sunak last year.
The law would have made it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009, as well as cracking down on youth vaping with stricter regulations on flavours and packaging.
However, after the General Election was called at the end of May, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was not included in the legislation rushed through by MPs when parliament was prorogued.
The analysis included a survey of 13,266 adults carried out by YouGov and commissioned by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) with funding from Cancer Research UK.
Using the responses, YouGov calculated the support by parliamentary constituency ahead of the General Election.
The average across Britain was 69 per cent in favour of the potential law change, while 12 per cent opposed it.
More than half of smokers – 52 per cent – also supported the plans while 24 per cent opposed them, Ash said.
Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott added: “Whether red, blue, yellow or green, the public support for the ban on the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2008 is black and white.”
“This enormously popular public health measure could put our country in pole position to be the first nation to end smoking. This legislation is vital for the future of our children, as it will protect them from vaping as well as smoking. The incoming government, whoever they are, must commit to bringing it back as a priority when they announce their legislative programme in the King’s speech.”
According to Cancer Research UK, smoking causes at least 15 different types of cancer and is the biggest cause of lung cancer in the UK. The charity’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell added: “Public support to raise the age of sale for tobacco is strong.
“All political parties must commit to introducing the new law in their manifestos. At the first King’s Speech, whoever wins the election must re-introduce the bill, pass it swiftly through parliament, and implement it so that we can start to reap the benefits of a smoke-free future.”
“The message from people affected by cancer, health professionals and campaigners is loud and clear: we must take action to prevent future generations from a potential lifetime of addiction and disease and reduce cancer deaths.”
Source: The Independent, 3 June 2024
See also: ASH Press Release: New poll shows EVERY parliamentary constituency in Great Britain backs phasing out sale of tobacco.
Follow this link to find results for your constituency.
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Cancer rates among under-50s in UK have risen 24% since 1995, figures show
The number of people under 50 being diagnosed with cancer in the UK has risen 24% in two decades, a sharper increase than any other age group, according to figures experts say are likely linked to soaring obesity levels, cheap junk food and inactivity.
Early onset incidence rates grew from 132.9 per 100,000 people in 1995 to 164.6 in 2019, analysis of data shows. About 35,000 under-50s are now developing cancer every year, almost 100 young women and men a day, the research reveals.
Experts are still in the early stages of understanding the reasons behind the rise in cases. But most believe poor diets, physical inactivity and obesity are likely to be among the factors behind the surge in cancer rates among young people in the UK.
Early onset cancers are still uncommon. About 90% of all cancers affect people over the age of 50. But the trend was still “worrying”, said Prof Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician.
“Although these cases are a small proportion of the overall population and still relatively uncommon, the trend is important, and it requires further investigation”.
The surge in early onset cases is a global problem. The number of under-50s affected worldwide has rocketed by almost 80%, the Guardian reported last year.
Swanton said that while researchers raced to unlock more answers, there were multiple ways people could reduce their risk.
“Around four in 10 cancer cases are preventable, and there are steps people can take to help reduce their cancer risk,” he said. “Not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, being safe in the sun and cutting down on alcohol all makes a big difference.”
Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2024
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Extend success of UK sugar tax to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, experts urge
The sugar tax has been so successful in improving people’s diets that it should be extended to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, health experts say.
The World Health Organization wants the next UK government to expand coverage of the levy to help tackle tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.
The plea is published in the WHO’s bulletin, which urges governments worldwide to use the reformulation of food to address the growing crisis of excess weight.
Experts from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have analysed the outcomes of two flagship government policies intended to make food healthier – the sugar tax and sugar reduction programme, which were introduced in 2018 and 2015 respectively.
The levy on the soft-drinks industry led to a 34.3% fall in total sugar sales from such products between 2015 and 2020 and many fizzy drinks containing much less.
Dr Kawther Hashem, a co-author and lecturer in public health nutrition at QMUL, said ministers should trial a sugar tax-style levy on treat foods that still have almost as much sugar as they did as 2015 despite firms being asked to cut sugar by 20% before 2020.
That could be applied to three products that, according to figures from the government’s Office for Health Improvements and Disparities, have recorded only small falls in their sugar content – chocolate 0.9% less, biscuits 3.1% and cakes 3.2%, Hashem said.
The sugar tax has helped to reduce obesity in teenage girls and bring about a fall in the number of children admitted to hospital for tooth decay, research has found.
“Unhealthy food which contains too much salt, sugar and fat and lacks in fruit, vegetables and fibre is now the major cause of death in the world. The new government needs to control the food industry rather than being subservient to its products” said Graham MacGregor, a professor of cardiovascular health at QMUL.
Legally-enforceable limits on salt, sugar and fat would force manufacturers to make products healthier and would reduce strokes, heart attacks and cases of cancer, many of which are linked to bad diet, he said.
Source: The Guardian, 1 June 2024
See also: Outcomes of sugar reduction policies, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Liberal Democrat’s pledge to “reverse cuts to the Public Health Grant”
The party’s manifesto will feature a pledge to “reverse cuts to the Public Health Grant” for local authorities in an “invest to save” bid, a spokesperson said.
Announcing the General Election pledge, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The Conservative Party has decimated public health funding, leaving Britain with a ticking time bomb of health challenges.”
“The public health crisis in our country has Rishi Sunak’s fingerprints all over it. He has slashed funding for vital local services that support children, failed to fix our crumbling hospitals and overseen a stark rise in health inequality.”
“The Liberal Democrats would reverse these scandalous cuts and invest in empowering local communities and individuals to lead healthier lives. It is time to recognise that it is far cheaper to prevent ill health than to treat it.”
The party pointed to research by The Health Foundation that found the Public Health Grant was cut 28% on a real-terms per person basis between 2015/16 and 2024.
According to the Liberal Democrats, £1 billion of investment each year, paid for by a crackdown on tax evasion, would support communities’ ability to “improve their own health” and reduce NHS pressures by spending money “effectively on prevention programmes to help prevent people from becoming ill in the first place”.
The party described its pledge as the “second major pillar of the party’s plan to fix the health and care crisis, following proposals announced last week to boost GP numbers by 8,000 and give people the legal right to see a GP within seven days”.
Source: The Evening Standard, 2 June 2024
See also: Liberal Democrat Press Release, Lib Dems pledge to reverse Conservative cuts to public health grant with £1bn a year to tackle “ticking time bomb” for NHS
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Infant mortality gap between poorest and wealthiest areas `widest in 12 years´
The difference in the mortality rate of babies living in the most deprived parts of England and those in the wealthiest areas is wider than at any point in the past 12 years, according to new figures.
Experts warned that an increasing number of pregnant women are facing “social complexities” that are impacting their health, such as poor housing.
They also called for more to be done to tackle underlying factors, such as rising levels of obesity and smoking in pregnancy.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there were 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in the most deprived areas of England compared to 2.2 deaths per 1,000 births in the least deprived. The gap is the widest is has been for 12 years, the ONS said.
Regionally, the West Midlands continued to have the highest infant mortality rate with 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the South West had the lowest, at 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Clare Livingstone, professional policy advisor at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “Midwives right across the UK are seeing a growing number of pregnant women experiencing more social complexities. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impact of disadvantage, such as poverty and poor housing on pregnancy and birth outcomes.”
Babies of black ethnicity continued to have the highest infant mortality rates among all ethnic groups, the ONS said.
Last month, the RCM launched its Maternity Disadvantage Assessment Tool (MatDAT), which assesses the social needs of pregnant women using a scoring system.
“Undoubtedly earlier identification and support for health and social risk factors during pregnancy can result in fewer inequalities and greater health equity for black, Asian and minority ethnic women and those from the most disadvantaged areas.
“There is also a need to tackle some of underlying factors, including smoking in pregnancy and rising levels of obesity, both of which can have an impact on infant mortality.”
Source: Daily Mail, 3 June 2024
See also: Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022 and the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group’s ‘A manifesto for smokefree beginnings’
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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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