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** 1 May 2020
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** UK
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** Dr Miriam Stoppard: Hopes for a cigarette-free England by the year 2030 (#1)
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** Patients 'allowed to smoke on ward' as NHS trust apologises for policy breaches (#2)
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** International
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** US: Marlboro maker Altria tops sales targets but rescinds share buyback (#3)
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** Links of the week
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** ASH letter to BAT at its 2020 AGM (#4)
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** Timeline: British American Tobacco (BAT)’s shameful track record (#5)
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** Quit for COVID Communications Toolkit (#6)
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** UK
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**
Writing in the Mirror, Dr Miriam Stoppard discusses the government’s ambition for England to be smokefree by 2030.
“Smoking is on course to kill around one billion people in the 21st century and is the leading preventable cause of disease and death. The adult smoking rate in England is now 14.4% – down from 19.3% five years ago – but this still represents six million smokers.
“We’ve made progress in tackling smoking through taxation on tobacco and introducing standardised packaging, as well as smokefree legislation and a ban on smoking in cars with children present.
“Dr Nick Hopkinson, Reader in Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London and Chair of ASH, describes in the BMJ a new plan to tackle smoking. The plan is that the tobacco industry would pay for the harm it causes by introducing a “polluter pays” levy on tobacco companies that will feed into a smoke-free 2030 fund.
“This fund would support media campaigns, trading standards enforcement and universal effective treatment for tobacco dependence. Money would be raised from companies on the basis of sales volume and the fund administered without any industry input, so the tobacco industry has no role in the setting up of or implementing policy.
“Beyond ensuring a secure source of funding, what else needs to be done? Preventing children from taking up smoking is essential to deliver a smoke-free future and lower the risk of future ill health. Increasing the age of sale from 16 to 18 in 2007 saw a fall in child smoking. A further increase from 18 to 21 would drive additional reductions.”
Source: The Mirror, 30 April 2020
See also: Smokefree 2030 ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])
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** Patients with mental health problems have been smoking in their ward bedrooms, according to a new report which found 47 legal breaches within a Sheffield NHS Trust.
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has issued an apology after a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated its services as inadequate following an unannounced inspection earlier this year. As a result, the service will be placed into special measures by the CQC.
According to the report, which was published on April 30, patients had access to cigarettes and lighters so they could smoke and there was evidence of smoking in the ward bedroom areas and gardens.
The trust, which provides inpatient services for people over 65 with mental health problems, received a good rating with regards to how caring its services are. However, the overall rating was inadequate with concerns over the safety of the services it offers and how well led they are.
Source: Yorkshire Live, 30 April 2020
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Read Article ([link removed])
** International
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**
Altria Group Inc topped quarterly sales expectations as shoppers stocked up cigarettes ahead of COVID-19 lockdown. The Marlboro maker said it would continue paying out dividends, sending shares up about 2% in early trading on Thursday, 30 April.
Movement restrictions by governments have not hampered sales as most of the retail stores in which Altria sells its products were deemed to be essential businesses and remained open, the company said. Volume sales of smokable tobacco rose 6.2%, while those of smokeless tobacco, such as snus, rose 2.8% in the three months ending March.
Revenue, net of excise taxes, rose 15% to $5.05 billion, beating the average estimate of $4.61 billion.
To shore up cash, the company's board also rescinded its $1 billion share buyback program that had $500 million remaining.
Source: Daily Mail, 30 April 2020
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Read Article ([link removed])
** Links of the week
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ASH has written to BAT setting out a series of questions about its shameful track record over the last 12 months for answering at its 2020 AGM.
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Read Letter ([link removed])
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To coincide with British American Tobacco’s (BAT) AGM yesterday (30 April) ASH has produced a timeline highlighting what BAT has been up to in the 12 months since last year's AGM.
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View timeline ([link removed])
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A new Communications Toolkit, FAQs document and social media assets have been published to support promotion of the Quit for COVID campaign.
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View Campaign page ([link removed])
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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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