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** 31 July 2024
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** UK
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** Hidden cost of UK workplace sickness rockets to £100bn a year, report finds (#1)
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** Coca-Cola should be banned from sponsoring the Olympics - just like cigarette giants were (#2)
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** International
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** Indonesia raises smoking age limit, will curb cigarette advertising (#3)
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** UK
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** Hidden cost of UK workplace sickness rockets to £100bn a year, report finds

The hidden cost of rising workplace sickness in the UK has increased to more than £100bn a year, largely caused by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report warns.

Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows the cost of staff sickness has grown by £30bn a year to £103bn in 2023. The annual bill was £73bn in 2018, its study found.

Most increase in cost to businesses (£25bn) was because of lower productivity, with employees not fully functioning in the workplace because of an illness, injury or other health condition. The rest of the cost increase (£5bn) was owing to employees taking more sick days.

Employees now lose the equivalent of 44 days of productivity on average because of working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018, according to the IPPR. Staff lose a further 6.7 days taking sick leave, up from 3.7 days in 2018, the report says.

Workers in the UK are among the least likely to take sick days, especially compared with other OECD and European countries, experts said. They are more likely to turn up at work while sick.

Dr Jamie O’Halloran, a senior research fellow at the IPPR, said: “Too often, UK workers are being pressured to work through sickness when that’s not appropriate – harming their wellbeing and reducing productivity. This can be because of a bad workplace culture, poor management, financial insecurity or just weak understanding of long-term conditions among UK employers.”

“Our demonstration of a ‘hidden’ productivity cost of working through sickness should catalyse a change in approach. We should strive to make sure the work we do is good for our health, that we have the time to recover when we need it, and to ensure businesses both contribute to and benefit from population health. This would protect workers, boost profits and deliver growth.”

Presenteeism can slow their recovery, increase the risk of getting sicker later, and spread infectious illnesses to others – all lowering productivity. This is bad for business and bad for staff, the IPPR concluded.

A separate study recently found that mental health training for line managers could save companies millions of pounds in lost sick days every year.

Organisations offering managers mental wellness training experienced better customer service, improved employee retention and recruitment, and reduced long-term sickness absence, according to the study published this month in the journal Plos One.

Source: The Guardian, 31 July 2024

See also: Healthy industry, prosperous economy: IPPR discussion paper ([link removed] ) and
The relationship between line manager training in mental health and organisational outcomes ([link removed])


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** Comment: Coca-Cola should be banned from sponsoring the Olympics - just like cigarette giants were

Writing in the Daily Mail, Dr Chris Van Tulleken argues that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should not accept sponsorship from companies that promote unhealthy products.

Dr Van Tulleken highlights that, until 1988, tobacco companies were big sponsors of sport, including the Olympic Games, a relationship that earnt the IOC millions of pounds, despite athletes who smoked dying of lung cancer.

For Van Tulleken, sugary soft drinks also have detrimental health effects, particularly on children, where they contribute to high levels of childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease and tooth decay. Despite these negative health outcomes from consumption of these products, Coca-Cola has been a major sponsor of the Olympics since 1928, contributing around £70 million annually.

This allows Coca-Cola advertising to be ubiquitous across the Olympic games, something Van Tulleken says must be stopped “for good”.

Dr Tulleken argues that beyond the sugar tax fizzy drinks remain “basically unregulated” with very little in the way of health warnings for consumers. Instead, Van Tulleken believes that such a close relationship between Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games cements in the minds of children and adults that that soft drinks are associated with healthiness and athleticism.

Source: Daily Mail, 30 July 2024
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** International
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** Indonesia raises smoking age limit, will curb cigarette advertising

Indonesia raised the minimum age limit for purchasing cigarettes to 21 from 18 as part of a series of changes to health regulations intended to curb the deadly habit in a country with one of the world's highest smoking rates.

A country of 270 million people, Indonesia is one of the world's top producers of tobacco and there are about 70 million adult smokers there, The World Health Organization said in a 2021 survey.

In a government regulation signed by President Joko Widodo last week, Indonesia raised the minimum age for people wanting to buy cigarettes to 21 and banned the sale of a single cigarette, a cheap alternative common in local street stores.
The regulation is intended to "lower prevalence of smokers and prevent early-age smokers," says the regulation. Among the provisions is banning the sale of cigarettes within 200 metres (656 feet) from schools and playgrounds.

The regulation took effect immediately.

Indonesia's health ministry said in a 2023 survey that 7.4% of smokers out of 70 million smokers in the country are between the ages of 10 to 18, with 15-19 being the age group with the most amount of smokers.

The new regulation also bans conventional and electronic cigarette sales on "commercial electronic applications" and social media sites. Advertising cigarettes on social media is also banned. Penalties for violations range from a written reprimand to a temporary ban on advertising cigarettes. The new provisions on advertising will come into force in two years.

Cheap and widespread, Indonesia has also tried to curb smoking by raising excise rates on tobacco products for almost every year in the past few years, including by 10% this year.

Source: Daily Mail, 31 July 2023

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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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