View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** 11 October 2024
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Patrols offer hospital smokers advice on quitting (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Smoking Rates in Greater Manchester Hit Record Low (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** How Rachel Reeves might unlock £57 billion at the budget with a ‘simple’ fiscal rule change (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** United States: (#4) Public Health Has a Blueberry-Banana Problem (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Parliamentary questions
------------------------------------------------------------


** Written questions (#5)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Links of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------
Transparency of Truth – Human right violations by tobacco multinationals (#7)
LGBT foundation - Pride in Practice survey (#8)


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Patrols offer hospital smokers advice on quitting

People smoking outside Nottingham's hospitals have started receiving advice from dedicated officers.

Smokers continue to gather outside Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust sites despite the grounds being smoke-free since 2006.

Two smoke-free engagement officers are now on site to speak to smokers in a "non-judgemental" way about help and guidance on giving up.

The officers, Akin Afolabi and Mohammed Khan, have been patrolling the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and City Hospital, making smokers aware of the support available to help them.

Zak Logalbo says it was Mr Afolabi who encouraged him to quit after he had smoked about 25 cigarettes a day.

The builder, who was visiting the QMC, told the BBC he started smoking vapes instead after receiving support and advice.

According to the NHS website, nicotine vaping is "substantially less harmful" than smoking. While not completely harmless, the health service says vaping is "one of the most effective tools" for quitting smoking.

The first patrols of the smoke-free engagement workers coincide with the Department of Health and Social Care's Stoptober campaign, which encourages people to quit cigarettes during October.

Zahida Niazi, smoke-free lead at NUH, said of the new officers: "We want them to be able to engage in a positive way with smokers and give them evidence-based information to support them to quit smoking.

"We don't want them to be judgemental towards people or be villainising to them.

"A lot of the time they are addicted to smoking, so we want to raise awareness that they can get support to quit."

Source: BBC News, 10 October 2024

See also: Quit smoking this Stoptober ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Smoking Rates in Greater Manchester Hit Record Low

Latest figures from 2023, show the number of people smoking in Greater Manchester (GM) have dropped to an all-time low. An estimated 284,000 adults (12.5% of the population) now smoke within GM with a record 36,800 adults giving up smoking last year alone.

The drop puts GM closer than ever to the national average smoking rates (11.6%) - marking the first time the gap has been less than 1%. The region's 1.8% reduction in smoking rates demonstrates significant progress toward achieving the city-region’s smokefree 2030 target (5% smoking prevalence or less).

In addition to the reduction in general smoking rates, GM has also achieved record lows in smoking among pregnant women with Smoking at the Time of Delivery (SATOD) rates dropping by 50% since 2017, with the current rate at just 6.1% of pregnant women considered smokers at the time of delivery - resulting in 6,000 babies born smokefree since the beginning of the Make Smoking History programme.

Jane Pilkington, Director of Population Health, NHS Greater Manchester, said: "Smoking is an addiction that impacts on all aspects of people’s lives. It is the leading cause of preventable illness and death, and its effects ripple through our communities, affecting not just health but also economic wellbeing. Our poorest and sickest communities pay the price as smoking disproportionately affects those already experiencing poor health and socio-economic challenges, exacerbating existing inequalities and perpetuating cycles of ill health.

“Greater Manchester's commitment to making smoking history plays an integral role in helping to tackle health inequalities and improve the health outcomes of our population.

The latest smoking prevalence rates are reflective of our successful work to stop the start, as well as discourage smoking and the delivery of effective treatment and support to ensure all residents can get the help they need to quit.”

Professor Matt Evison, Clinical Lead for Making Smoking History, NHS Greater Manchester, and co-chair of the GM Make Smoking History Alliance said: "Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable illness and early death in Greater Manchester. It claims thousands of lives each year and leaves many others living with serious diseases like cancer, heart disease, and respiratory conditions. The harm caused by smoking stretches far beyond individual health, affecting families, communities, and putting huge pressure on our health and care services.

“This reduction in smoking prevalence represents a substantial improvement in the health and wealth of the communities of Greater Manchester and demonstrates what can be achieved with the right investment and system-wide approach to reduce the substantial burden of tobacco-related illness and poverty.”

Source: Wigan Today, 10 October 2024

See also: ONS - Smoking habits in the UK and its constituent countries ([link removed]) | NHS Digital - Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** How Rachel Reeves might unlock £57 billion at the budget with a ‘simple’ fiscal rule change

Rachel Reeves is thought to be considering making a major change to Labour’s fiscal rules at the budget on 30 October by borrowing billions for infrastructure investment.

The move has sparked fears of the potential of rising debt, but the chancellor is reported to have told the cabinet she wants the Treasury to change how it accounts for capital spending to also reflect the benefits of investment. The change to Labour’s fiscal rule – laid out in the party’s manifesto – could unlock up to £57 billion for infrastructure spending, some experts predict.

Ahead of the general election, Labour pledged to follow two rules. The first was that in the current budget, costs are met by revenues such as tax. This has proven much more of a challenge for Ms Reeves than she anticipated after she unveiled Treasury analysis in late July which showed a £22 billion shortfall in public spending.

The chancellor has acknowledged this herself, saying at a Labour Party Conference fringe event that the measure would be “incredibly hard” to meet and require “tough decisions” to be made.

The second rule is that debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the economic forecast. This measure rules out excessive borrowing to fill Labour’s black hole, as debt would be driven up as a result.

During her speech at the conference, Ms Reeves said: “It is time that the Treasury moved on from just counting the costs of investments to recognising the benefits too.” The comment caused experts to speculate that she may be looking to alter Labour’s fiscal rules at the budget to deal with what Labour calls its unexpected “inheritance”.

There are two main options on the table. Firstly, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has urged the chancellor to adopt a ‘public sector net worth’ target at the budget instead of her second fiscal rule. In simple terms, this is a measure of the total value of what the government owns, minus what it owes.

The proposed change would mean that Labour aims to increase public sector net worth in year five, rather than reduce debt. This seemingly simple change would enable to government to invest more in infrastructure by looking at the growth potential, rather than just debt.

However, the chancellor could also opt for moderate changes. She has privately considered excluding losses from the Bank of England from the debt calculation, reports The Guardian, as well as the borrowing required to set up public institutions like the national wealth fund. Such a move could raise up to £20bn and would provoke less reaction in the markets.

Source: The Independent, 10 October 2024

See also: Sky News - Budget 2024: How fiscal rules are impeding long-term investments - and what Rachel Reeves can do about it ([link removed])

IPPR - Budgeting better: How the UK could start to improve its fiscal framework and boost growth ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** United States: Public Health Has a Blueberry-Banana Problem

These days, you can easily find vapes in flavours that include “Lush Ice,” “Blueberry Banana,” “Mango Lychee,” “Hot Fudge,” and “Fcuking Fab” (whatever that is). No matter which one you choose, it’s almost certainly illegal. The tiny battery-powered devices that produce a mist of nicotine when you inhale, first popularized by Juul, are not outright banned—at least not for adults—but only a few flavoured vapes have gotten the FDA authorization required before they hit the market.

That hasn’t stopped hundreds of shadowy companies, many based abroad, from effectively hawking contraband. Vapes are sold to Americans online for as little as $5, and are well-stocked in convenience stores, smoke shops, and even vending machines.

With such little oversight, it’s no wonder that about 1.6 million American kids are regularly vaping, leading to panic that they are getting duped into a lifetime of nicotine addiction. The FDA has levied fines, filed lawsuits, and even seized products to keep vapes off of shelves, and the agency has pledged a major escalation in its efforts. Politicians across the political spectrum, including Senators Mitt Romney and Chuck Schumer, have advocated for a vaping crackdown. But not Donald Trump.

In 2020, Trump abruptly abandoned a plan to ban flavoured vapes, much to the chagrin of public-health officials. Late last month, Trump posted on Truth Social that, if elected, he would “save Vaping again!” The former president may be a deeply flawed messenger, and the vaping industry hardly deserves any sympathy. Many of these companies flagrantly violate the law and overtly market to kids. Even so, Trump has a point. Vapes—as a replacement for cigarettes, anyway—are actually worth saving.

Trump said in that Truth Social post that vapes have “greatly helped people get off smoking.” It’s easy to dismiss that as spin. After all, he had received a personal visit from the head of the vaping industry’s lobbying group that same day. However, vapes are indeed a revelation for the 28 million adults in the United States who smoke cigarettes. They work as well, or even better, than all of the conventional products designed to help wean people off of cigarettes.

But if public health is about managing trade-offs, the benefits of vapes seem to outweigh the negatives. Although no kids should be vaping, abusing these products is not deadly like cigarettes are. Amid rising public awareness about the dangers of youth vaping, even FDA’s top tobacco official has acknowledged publicly that youth vaping is no longer the epidemic it was a few years ago.

But there are caveats to consider when it comes to the anti-smoking potential of vapes. They are regulated as consumer products and not medicines, so they have not gone through the same rigorous approval process that every other anti-smoking drug has gone through. We still don’t know alot about how effective vapes might be to help people quit smoking, or how often smokers need to use them to successfully quit. Because vapes are still relatively new, no one can say definitively that they do not carry some long-term risks we do not know yet. The current Wild West of vapes also adds to the potential pitfalls. Vapes also contain known carcinogens, likely because of the chemicals in e-liquids being heated to high temperatures. Some likely carry higher risks than others because of how little standardization there is in the chemicals used.

Given that the overwhelming majority of smokers who try to quit each year fail, “anything that we can add to the tool kit as a way that could help people transition away from smoking is something that is worth exploring,” Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who has studied anti-smoking drugs, told me. You might cringe at the thought of anyone putting something called “Fcuking Fab” into their lungs, but consider that cigarettes still kill nearly 500,000 Americans each year. Vapes are deeply flawed. Unfortunately, so are the alternatives.

Source: The Atlantic, 10 October 2024

See also: Wackowski OA, Bover Manderski MT, Gratale SK, Weiger CV, O'Connor RJ. Perceptions about levels of harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes, and associations with relative e-cigarette harm perceptions, e-cigarette use and interest ([link removed]) . Addiction. 2023
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Parliamentary activity
------------------------------------------------------------


** Written questions
------------------------------------------------------------


**
Asked by Claire Hanna, Social Democratic & Labour Party, Belfast South and Mid Down ([link removed])

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on introducing a ban on single use vapes.

Answered by Mary Creagh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Labour, Coventry East

We are reviewing the current proposals to restrict the sale and supply of single use vapes and will outline next steps as soon as possible.

Asked by Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat, Harrogate and Knaresborough ([link removed])

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible people in Yorkshire and the Humber have been screened through the national targeted lung cancer screening programme since July 2023; and what steps he is taking to increase the level of uptake for that scheme.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care, Labour, Gorton and Denton

The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme is available in some areas of England and offers a lung cancer screen to those who are over 55 years old but younger than 75 years old; are registered with a general practitioner; and have a history of smoking. NHS England has advised that to the end of August 2024, 36.3% of the eligible population in the Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance has been invited to the Lung Cancer Screening programme since 2019, with 16,103 people participating between July 2023 and July 2024. Estimated uptake for May to July 2024, the most recent available three months of data, was 55.4%. This has improved significantly with the rolling average for the last 12 months being 47.8%.A wide range of initiatives continues to be carried out to improve uptake in the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme. For example, at a national level this includes using social media, leaflets and posters to promote the programme and at a local level, using text messaging to remind people
of their appointment. Cancer Alliances are also bringing together primary care networks, lung cancer screening teams and communication colleagues to ensure collaborative and informed working is taking place. The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme will be fully rolled out to 100% of the eligible population by 2029.

Asked by Sarah Green, Liberal Democrat, Chesham and Amersham ([link removed])

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the enforcement of no smoking policies on NHS hospital grounds in England.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care, Labour, Gorton and Denton

Smoking has been prohibited by law in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed workplaces and public places, including hospital buildings, throughout the United Kingdom since July 2007. Smoke-free legislation in England forms part of the Health Act 2006 and The Children and Families Act 2014.Enforcement powers for smoke-free places are given to local authorities, who must identify appropriate officers to enforce smoke-free regulations. The most appropriate team for this will vary by local authority but powers are most commonly assigned to teams of officers covering environmental health, health and safety or a similar area. Smoke-free policies in National Health Service hospital grounds in England go beyond requirements by law and are developed and implemented by the local NHS trust.

Asked by Mary Kelly Foy, Labour, City of Durham ([link removed])

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing of a polluter pays levy on tobacco company to fund smoking cessation services; and if he will make it his policy to increase funding for (a) the swap-to-stop scheme, (b) tobacco control enforcement and (c) the national smoke-free pregnancy incentive scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation response entitled creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, published on 12 February 2024, whether he plans to implement the policies set out in that response.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care, Labour, Gorton and Denton

The Government is funding a broad package of measures to tackle the harm caused by smoking, including additional funding for local authority Stop Smoking Services, more enforcement activity around illegal tobacco and vape products, as well as recently launching a national smoke-free pregnancy incentive programme. On the issue of a polluter pays levy on the tobacco industry, the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of public finances. The Government keeps all taxes under review during its yearly Budget process.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention in a generation, improving healthy life expectancy and reducing the number of lives lost to the biggest killers. Alongside introducing a progressive smoking ban to ensure the next generation can never legally be sold tobacco, the Bill will also stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products from being deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children. We are additionally considering a range of new measures to put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom and will set out more details soon.

Question 1 ([link removed])
Question 2 ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Links of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------


** Transparency of Truth – Human right violations by tobacco multinationals

Transparency and truth have released a report about the human right violations by tobacco multinationals. They examine how the tobacco industry violates human rights, for example by targeting young people in its marketing strategies or undermining smoking prevention efforts in Switzerland and elsewhere. Also highlighting how Switzerland is failing to protect the human rights of its citizens by failing to take effective measures to prevent smoking and by putting the interests of tobacco multinationals ahead of public health.
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** LGBT foundation - Pride in Practice survey

LGBT foundation is seeking responses to their Pride in Practice primary care patient survey. The object of this survey is to collect data on LGBTQ+ patient experiences in primary care, be that at GP practices, dental practices, pharmacies, or optometry services. This survey will be open on an ongoing basis, with data being collated for a report once a year. The responses to the survey will be used to support the LGBT Foundation in improving awareness of the experiences LGBTQ+ patients have when using primary care services. The data that is collected may also then be used to:
------------------------------------------------------------

*
** Increase awareness of t LGBTQ+ patient experiences in primary care services.
------------------------------------------------------------
*
** Inform and improve the training provided by LGBT Foundation’s Pride in Practice team to primary care services.
------------------------------------------------------------
*
** Feature in our written reports that promote the ongoing need to improve service provision for LGBTQ+ patients in primary care.
------------------------------------------------------------


**
Respond to the survey here ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Take Part Here ([link removed])
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk ([link removed])

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.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
Unit 2.9, The Foundry
17 Oval Way
London
SE11 5RR

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])