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** 18 July 2024
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** UK
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** Health leaders hail Labour’s plans to phase out smoking as ‘gamechanging’ (#1)
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** HUGE rise in vaping as research shows one in ten adults use devices, and many taking up the habit have never smoked (#2)
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** Smokers and vapers cost Greater Anglia almost £30,000 and cause more than 12 hours of delays (#3)
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** International
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** Health ministry initiates law banning smoking on bar and restaurant terraces in Spain (#4)
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** UK
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** Health leaders hail Labour’s plans to phase out smoking as ‘gamechanging’

The government’s plans to introduce the world’s first full smoking ban, halt sales of energy drinks to children and modernise mental health laws are “gamechanging” and will save thousands of lives, health leaders have said.

Labour will also impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes to children and launch a crackdown on junk food advertising in a drive to improve the health of future generations.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “The king’s speech has some gamechanging commitments that will improve the nation’s health – with reforms to the Mental Health Act and legislation to create a smoke-free generation at the top of the list.

“Our members will also support the focus on children and young people, with measures to tackle the impact of junk food and high-caffeine energy drinks a welcome starting point.”

England’s chief medical officer, Prof Sir Chris Whitty, who has pleaded with MPs to ignore lobbying by tobacco firms and pass the bill, said the move to create a smoke-free country would be “a major step forward in public health”.

Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy, Dr Ian Walker, predicted that the ban would “have a hugely positive impact on the nation’s health”.

The president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, Greg Fell, said: “Phasing out smoking will save thousands of lives, help protect the next generation from ever becoming addicted to this lethal product, and do more to narrow the unacceptably large gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions than any other single measure.”

The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Prof Steve Turner, described the move as “a major milestone” towards the UK having “the healthiest generation of children in our history”.

Source: The Guardian, 17 July 2024

See also: Transcript of the Kings Speech ([link removed])
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** HUGE rise in vaping as research shows one in ten adults use devices, and many taking up the habit have never smoked

One in ten adults in England now vape, marking an eight-fold surge in a decade, worrying new data reveals. By contrast, just one in 80 were thought to have taken up the habit in 2013.

Concerningly, around one in six 18-year-olds who have never smoked before were also found to be long-term users of the devices.

In a nod to the Government's plan to ban disposable vapes, researchers said this was particularly a concern and 'harmful to public health'.

Campaigners have long called for much tougher regulations — including an immediate ban on marketing to children and a tax on disposable vapes, which are most popular among teens.

In the study, researchers from University College London surveyed almost 180,000 adults on whether they smoked and which nicotine products they use.

Between October 2013 and October 2023, participants were asked about use of a range of nicotine products, depending on their smoking status. Those who reported vaping for more than six months were considered long term vapers.

Over the follow-up of 10 years they found the proportion of adults reporting vaping for more than six months surged from 1.3 per cent to 10 per cent. In 2021 alone, this rose from 0.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent.

More than one in five (22.7 per cent) 18-year-olds also reported vaping for more than six months, by October 2023.

Source: Daily Mail 18 July 2024

See also: Jackson, S.E., Tattan-Birch, H., Shahab, L. and Brown, J. (2024). Trends in long term vaping among adults in England, 2013-23: population based study ([link removed]) . BMJ

Editorial note: The article includes a graphic claiming to show the health effects of vaping and smoking on the body. However, no supporting evidence is provided for the statements on vaping which appear to be based on potential effects reported in individual studies or by the media. For reliable information about the health impacts of vaping we recommend referring to systematic reviews published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (2022) ([link removed]) the Royal College of Physicians (2024). ([link removed])
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** Smokers and vapers cost Greater Anglia almost £30,000 and cause more than 12 hours of delays

Greater Anglia is warning passengers not to smoke or vape on trains following "costly delays". In the last 12 months, there have been 77 incidents across the network where people have been caught breaking the rules on board.

These have led to more than 774 minutes of delays, causing "great inconvenience" to customers and costing Greater Anglia almost £30,000.

Matt Wakefield, head of safety, security and sustainability, said: "It’s very disappointing that some passengers are smoking on our trains and at our stations.

"This anti-social behaviour leads to delays which affect everyone else travelling on our trains, who may be travelling to work, school, for hospital appointments or to meet family and friends.

"We will not hesitate to take action, such as removing them from our trains or stations, or reporting them to the British Transport Police if we catch anyone smoking or vaping.

Source: Bishop Stortford Independent, 18 July 2024
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** International
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** Health ministry initiates law banning smoking on bar and restaurant terraces in Spain

The Ministry of Health in Spain continues to keep its foot on the accelerator with the aim of having the legal reforms contained in the anti-smoking plan agreed with the regions approved or at least well advanced before the end of the year.

In April the department already took the first step to approve the royal decree that will implement generic labelling and ban flavourings and flavourings in cigarettes and vapes, and today (July 17) it did the same but with a draft bill that will extend smoke-free public spaces and restrict the sale and consumption of all types of electronic cigarettes among young people as well as the advertising of these new tobacco-related products.

The ministry headed by Mónica García opened for prior consultation, the first obligatory procedure, the draft bill that will reform for the first time in more than a decade the law regulating the sale, supply, consumption and advertising of tobacco.

The document states that the law will agree measures to meet the objective of reducing unwanted exposure of the public to tobacco smoke, toxins and other related products, such as e-cigarettes and vapes, in public places. In particular it talks about "community and social settings". It does not yet specify any specific areas where smoking will be banned or limited, but the ministry's focus has been on hospitality terraces, bus and tram shelters and other community places such as beaches.

This is a measure supported by two out of three people and by the entire medical profession, which points out that there are thousands of non-smoking people in Spain who develop cancers or other serious pathologies as a result of passive smoking, an involuntary intoxication that kills 1.3 million of the planet's inhabitants every year.

The second block of reforms the Health ministry has announced is the one that aims to extend legal restrictions on tobacco to electronic cigarettes and, at least in some aspects, to vapers. Firstly, the future law will bring tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans and restrictions into line with the new forms of smoking. It is expected that they will be practically equalised and that especially the promotion of these products by 'influencers' or festivals and other youth-oriented events, which until now act without restrictions, will be limited.

Secondly, it also envisages bringing the long-standing restrictions on the sale and use of tobacco to the same level as electronic cigarettes, whether or not they contain nicotine, and herbal smoking products of all kinds.

Source: SUR in English, 17 July 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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