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** 4 June 2024
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** UK
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** NHSE appoints ex-college president to new director role (#1)
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** MPs who opposed risk checks on gamblers received £279k from industry (#2)
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** Boost for British American Tobacco as Government's proposed law to ban smoking fails to make statute books (#3)
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** International
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** June 1st price rises on cigarette packets rise in price in France (#4)
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** British Columbian woman fuming that seniors' advocacy group CARP in bed with Big Tobacco company (#5)
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** UK
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** NHSE appoints ex-college president to new director role

NHS England has appointed a former royal college president as its first-ever medical director for mental health and neurodiversity.

Adrian James, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has been appointed to the new post which is designed to “support the transformation of services for people with mental health needs, autism, a learning disability and those who are neurodiverse”.

In the job advert, NHS England said their work would include providing clinical leadership on care quality; developing “future strategies beyond the NHS long-term plan”; medical workforce transformation; and engaging other clinicians.

It comes as the five-year funding cycle of the 2019 NHS long-term plan – which substantially increased spending on some mental health services – comes to an end in April this year. There is also rising demand and waits for many mental health and neurodiversity services; and close scrutiny of major failings in inpatient units.

Dr James was president of RCPsych from 2020-23. He is a board member of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and a member of the NHS Assembly. He was previously the medical director of Devon Partnership Trust.

Of Dr James’ appointment, national medical director Sir Steve Powis said: “This is the first role of its kind in NHS England and demonstrates our ongoing commitment both to strong clinical leadership in general, and specifically within mental health and neurodiversity.”

Source: HSJ, 3 June 2024
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** MPs who opposed risk checks on gamblers received £279k from industry

MPs who have opposed tougher gambling regulations have received a total of £279,000 in earnings, donations and hospitality from the betting and horseracing industries since 2019, i can reveal.

The MPs, who received gifts including hospitality tickets to Ascot, Cheltenham, Lord’s Cricket Ground, Wembley Stadium and the Brit Awards, were critical of the Government’s proposals for financial risk checks for gamblers.

The donations were all publicly declared in the MPs’ register of members’ interests. i also examined Hansard (transcripts of parliamentary debates) and news reports in its analysis.

There is no suggestion that the MPs have acted immorally or outside of parliamentary rules, but the figures have prompted concerns of a “conflict of interest” from campaigners who have called for donations to be capped.

The checks – intended to protect financially vulnerable customers – were outlined in a Government White Paper in April 2023. The gambling and horseracing industries have repeatedly argued that the checks must be “frictionless”.

The White Paper is intended to update the 2005 Gambling Act, introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

MPs who received donations raised concerns that the checks would make things worse for people with gambling addictions who would turn to an unregulated black market instead.

They denied that the funds from the gambling and horseracing industries had any influence on their views.

The Government proposed in its White Paper that net losses of £125 within a 30-day period or £500 within a year would trigger financial risk checks. Enhanced checks, informed mainly by credit referencing data, were suggested for losses greater than £1,000 within a 24-hour period or £2,000 within 90 days.

MPs who received contributions from gambling firms and the horseracing industry, which is largely funded by betting, urged the gambling minister to change the plans as recently as February of this year.

Charles Ritchie, chair of Gambling with Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, warned that greater controls on gambling are needed to protect lives.

Mr Ritchie, whose son Jack took his own life after developing a gambling addiction, said: “Behind every regulation that a paid-for MP has helped water down are gambling suicides, and families devastated.

“Bereaved families are calling on MPs and candidates to resist the gambling lobby freebies – the public is desperate for purer politics.”

Source: The i, 3 June 2024
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** Boost for British American Tobacco as Government's proposed law to ban smoking fails to make statute books

British American Tobacco (BAT) and its peers breathed a sigh of relief when Rishi Sunak decided to call a snap General Election a little more than a week ago.

That is because the Government's proposed law to clamp down on smoking by banning those born after 2009 from buying cigarettes failed to make it on to the statute books on time.

Investors in the tobacco giant will have to wait to see if BAT sheds any light on this with its update on Tuesday.

The Pall Mall cigarette maker is focusing on newer smoking alternatives such as vapes.

But the task is far from simple – given that it revealed in February that it slumped to an annual loss after taking a hit to its US business.

BAT's American brands have suffered from falling smoking rates, lower sales amid a wider cost-of-living squeeze, and uncertainty around a potential menthol cigarette ban in the US. The firm also expects its group revenues to rise a touch this year.

BAT, which is valued at £53billion, says it wants to make half of its revenues from non-traditional cigarettes by 2035.

Source: This is Money, 1 June 2024
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** International
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** June 1st price rises on cigarette packets rise in price in France

On June 1st the price of some cigarette packets rose in France, with figures suggesting that a packet could cost as much as €25 by 2040.

The rise seeks to standardise sales prices for tobacco products made in France.

It is in addition with the usual annual governmental price increase of January 1, and is a result of manufacturers wanting to make more of a margin on each packet sale.

This new rise means that some (but not all) packets will see slight increases. For example, a 20-cigarette packet of Dunhill ‘red’ will increase from €12.50 to €12.70.

Rolling tobacco is also set to increase; a 30g packet of Pall Mall will rise from €16.60 to €16.70; a 30g pack of Lucky Strike from €16.70 to €16.80; and a 30g of Pueblo from €16.90 to €17.

Cigars and other styles of cigarettes are also set to see similar price rises.

Most of the cost of cigarettes represents government taxes and customs charges. French customs data shows that for a cigarette pack costing €11.50, the state takes more than €9.50.

The breakdown of the fees and charges is:
• Excise duty (55%): €6.33
• Additional excise fee: €1.43
• VAT on retail price (16.67%): €1.92
• Tobacconist's wholesale rate (10.19%): €1.17
• Manufacturer's margin: €0.66. It is this that will increase as a result of the newest price rises.

The French government has said that its aim is for all packets of 12 cigarettes to cost €13 or more by 2026, as a deterrent against smoking.

Tobacco use causes 70,000 premature deaths in France every year, health data suggests. Smokers die at age 69 on average, in comparison to the average life expectancy in France of 83 (14 extra years).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly said that increased tobacco taxes, and therefore the price of packets for consumers, is the most effective way of changing behaviour.

The report also found that with each 4% increase in price, tobacco use in France diminishes.

The government has long worked to increase the price of a pack, with the then-Health Minister Agnès Buzyn bringing in the gradual ramping up of prices to €10 per pack, over the course of three years from 2018.

Source: The Connexion, 31 May 2024
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** British Columbian woman fuming that seniors' advocacy group CARP in bed with Big Tobacco company

Ellen Gould joined the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) — Canada's largest advocacy group for older adults — because she considered it a "trustworthy organization" that advocates for seniors' health.

So when an email arrived from CARP, inviting the Powell River, B.C., resident to take part in a focus group on smoking habits in Canada, Gould was intrigued.

The email said CARP members would discuss "smokeless alternatives" to cigarettes, including vaping products — commonly known as e-cigarettes or vaping pens — which are battery-operated and heat up a liquid solution into an aerosol for inhalation.

But when Gould scrolled to the bottom of an accompanying survey, she discovered the project was funded by Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH), a Toronto-based tobacco company owned by giant Philip Morris International, one of the largest tobacco companies in the industry.

"It is such a shock to me that CARP would be acting as a shill for Big Tobacco," said Gould. "I just found that so offensive."

A prominent tobacco researcher and health policy expert says CARP's partnership with RBH lends legitimacy to a company that realizes tobacco cigarettes are waning in popularity and wants more people to vape.

CARP president Rudy Buttignol declined to say how much money the tobacco company provided for access to CARP members.

An estimated 3.2-million Canadians smoke cigarettes daily, according to the federal government, which also notes that 125 Canadians die every day from smoking-related illnesses — more than the combined deaths from alcohol, opioids, suicides, murders and traffic accidents.

Big Tobacco has a controversial history of downplaying the significant health risks associated with its products.

Back in the 1950s, tobacco companies tried to cover up growing evidence that smoking caused cancer. Some tobacco outfits hired doctors to endorse their products. Other companies falsely promoted "light" cigarettes as being healthier than cigarettes already on the market.

"So, just on principle, they're not trustworthy," said Gould. "And [CARP] shouldn't be getting into these kinds of partnerships if they want to maintain their credibility."

Source: CBC News, 3 June 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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