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NHS is ‘struggling’ but ‘not destroyed’, chief in England says
The NHS is “struggling” but “not destroyed”, despite the huge challenges it faces, the head of the health service in England says.
In a major speech on Wednesday, Amanda Pritchard urged whichever party won the general election to give the NHS more money, fix social care and tackle threats to public health, such as junk food.
Bold government action was needed to stop the NHS becoming “an expensive safety net” that picked up the pieces of people damaged by obesity, mental illness and problem gambling.
In her address to the NHS ConfedExpo conference of health service bosses in Manchester, the chief executive of NHS England acknowledged that maternity care, mental health provision, GP waiting times and patient safety were not good enough.
But she rebutted the claim, made in recent years by some politicians and health service staff, that the NHS was “broken”.
“It’s important to recognise where we need to do better for patients. But it’s also important that we don’t collude with defeatism,” Pritchard said. “Yes, the post-Covid NHS is damaged, but it is not destroyed. It is struggling, but it is still doing incredible things every day.”
Pritchard made clear that whoever was in power on 5 July would need to take bold action to help the NHS survive in its current form and cope with an ageing and increasingly sick population.
Big expected rises in coming years in the number of people who had at least one long-term condition as well as those suffering mental ill-health would mean “more demand, requiring more capacity”, she said.
Citing the opening of 30 NHS clinics to help severely obese children, and a recent sharp increase in the number of people in England with a precursor of type 2 diabetes – “a disease driven by junk food and obesity” – she emphasised that “we [the NHS] can’t solve this alone”.
Source: The Guardian, 12 June 2024
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Chinese vaping giant Elf Bar accused of skirting the law with potent new device
Chinese vaping giant Elf Bar has been accused of skirting UK law with a new £12.99 device, the AF5000. The device is advertised as coming pre-filled with 2ml of liquid nicotine – the legal maximum for a disposable e-cigarette, but it also has a clip-on 10ml "reservoir" taking its total up to 12ml, allowing 5,000 ‘puffs of huge satisfaction’ from a single device.
The EU has alerted member states about the "dangerous" device, which is likely to lead to a Europe-wide ban. There are calls to strip it from UK shelves as well amid fears it could fall into the hands of vulnerable young people.
Steve Brine, former chairman of the Commons health committee, said: "This cynical move will surprise nobody. These businesses will always find a way to protect profits, which is why the law has to stay several steps ahead of them. This impulse election, killing as it did the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, has given them a welcome breather. But the next Government needs to move fast and revive that crucial piece of legislation on day one."
Former Tory MP Caroline Johnson, a paediatric consultant, said: "This is a clear sign that the industry will do anything to skirt the law so it can addict more people to nicotine products. These new devices are clearly not intended to help people quit smoking but as an alternative source of addiction to make revenue. One of the reasons I wanted to make sure that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill went through is that it’s so important to protect children’s health. We don't want a whole generation of addicted children."
Shadow health minister Preet Gill urged the Government to take "urgent action" to get the vapes taken off shelves. She said: ‘Youth vaping has soared. We put forward measures to tackle vapes being aimed at children more than two years ago, but these were blocked by the Conservatives. A Labour government will take tough action to stop a new generation getting hooked on nicotine. We will clamp down on underage vaping by banning vapes from being branded and advertised to children."
The AF5000 comes in 15 different flavours including Blueberry Sour Raspberry, Watermelon Ice, Triple Mango, Blue Razz Lemonade, Kiwi Passion Fruit Guava and Pineapple Mojito.
Pukka Juice, a Blackburn-based online vape retailer, describes the device as a "powerhouse" that "surpasses eight standard disposables, making it a cost-effective and sustainable choice for discerning vapers".
Under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, disposable vapes – including single-use cartridges or tanks – can contain no more than 2ml of nicotine liquid.
Last night, Elf Bar insisted the AF5000 was compliant with the law and said it was investigating the EU alert. A spokesman said: "We take product compliance in all global markets seriously and follow the necessary steps to meet relevant criteria."
In its safety alert on the AF5000, the EU warned: "The device is extended with a refill tank. This modification could lead to the accidental consumption of a high dose of nicotine. Nicotine is acutely toxic and can endanger the user’s safety, notably if the product comes into contact with the skin or
is ingested."
Source: The Daily Mail, 12 June 2024
Editorial note: ASH has removed from this article summary the inaccurate assertion that the Elf Bar AF5000 has the strength of 240 cigarettes and that the Elf Bar 600 contains the equivalent to 48 cigarettes. In fact a standard 2 ml vape containing the maximum legal limit nicotine concentration will on average deliver the same amount of nicotine as one pack of 20 cigarettes and the AF5000 with 10ml of e-liquid at the maximum legal limit will on average deliver the same amount of nicotine as 5 packs of cigarettes. For more information and references see our peer reviewed brief addressing common myths around vaping
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Disposable vapes could be banned in Jersey in 2025
Islanders may be unable to buy disposable vapes in Jersey from April 2025.
The ban would come as part of the move to change the Single Use Plastics Law to include disposable vapes.
Deputy Steve Luce, the Environment Minister and the Infrastructure Minister Constable Andy Jehan said the proposition would benefit people's health and the environment.
It would be an expansion to the law which has been used to ban single-use plastic bags since 2022.
Mr Luce said the aim was to lodge the proposition in early September with a proposed debate date of late October.
Borough's public drinking ban set to be approved.
Source: BBC News, 12 June 2024
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Scientists make discovery behind the connection between cancer and obesity
Scientists have unlocked a key piece of information that might explain the so-called “obesity paradox” for cancer patients.
The fact that obesity can contribute to cancer progression but also improve a patient’s response to immunotherapy is known as the “obesity paradox” among researchers.
Now academics, led by scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in the US, have made a discovery behind the “complicated connection” between obesity and cancer – and hope that one day it could lead to improvements in a type of cancer treatment called immunotherapy.
A new study, published in the journal Nature, outlines how immune system cells called macrophages play an unexpected role in this connection.
Professor Jeffrey Rathmell, director of the Vanderbilt Centre for Immunobiology, said: “Obesity is the second leading modifiable risk factor for cancer, behind only smoking, and obese individuals have a greater risk for worse outcomes. But they also can respond better to immunotherapy. How is it that there can be this worse outcome on one hand, but better outcome on another? We clearly want to find ways to make immunotherapies work better, and in the obese setting, they naturally work better. Understanding how these processes are working biologically may give us clues about how to improve immunotherapy in general.”
Lead author, postdoctoral fellow Dr Jackie Bader, added: “Macrophages are thought of as being like a garbage truck: They clean up the mess. But they have a huge spectrum of activity to enhance the immune response, and they’re more plastic and manipulatable than other immune cells, which makes them really interesting.”
“We were very fortunate to have collaborators that provided us with samples from the same patients before and after weight loss that reinforced the findings from our mouse models.”
Source: Daily Mail, 12 June 2024
See also: Obesity induces PD-1 on macrophages to suppress anti-tumour immunity, Nature 2024
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Crackdown means closure for stores selling illegal tobacco and vapes
Lincolnshire police and trading standards have shut a further seven stores across the county after raids for the sale of illegal tobacco and vapes.
The shops in Spalding, Crowland and Holbeach were targeted in the raids, and court orders for temporary closure were then granted under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Inspector Matt Dickinson of South Holland neighbourhood policing, said: “The antisocial behaviour and criminality associated with these kinds of shops is not welcome in our county.
“Together with our trading standards partners and other agencies, we are united in stamping out illegal tobacco and vape sales with unwavering force for the safety of our community here in Lincolnshire.”
“Police and trading standards are currently working with premises landlords to provide a long-term solution once closure orders expire.
“Where there is any doubt whether the criminal activity will continue we will have no hesitation applying for closure extensions. We hope this will address community concerns about these premises re-opening.”
Source: Talking Retail, 7 June 2024
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A plan to ban drinking alcohol in public across all of Slough is set to be approved.
The public space protection order (PSPO) would prohibit consuming alcohol or having an “open container” that is "reasonably believed" to contain alcohol in public places.
Slough Borough Council said 93% of all people who responded to a consultation about the plan earlier this year were in favour.
The authority’s cabinet is set to approve the three-year order next Monday. The authority said without a ban it is “inevitable” anti-social behaviour will continue.
Slough previously had a PSPO banning public drinking between 2017 and 2020 but only in certain areas.
The authority suggested that led to public drinkers moving to places where the ban was not in force. Anyone who breaks the new order could be issued with a £100 fine and convicted of a criminal offence if they do not pay it. It would also be an offence to not stop drinking alcohol or to refuse to hand alcohol over to police or authorised officers when asked.
Source: BBC News, 12 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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