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** 4 April 2025
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** UK
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** High smoking rates among pregnant women in Bradford raise health concerns (#1)
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** Pharmacies granted greater flexibility in smoking cessation services (#2)
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** Alcohol consumption patterns challenge current strategy, experts say (#3)
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** Weighing the risks: how vaping compares to smoking (#4)
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** International
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** Paris Metro bans exhibition advert featuring smoking artist (#5)
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** Links of the Week
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** APPG Report: A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country: No one starts, everyone stops, no profit in tobacco (#6)
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** BMJ Opinion: Effective public health requires “deep prevention” (#7)
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** Podcast: Let’s talk e-cigarettes (#8)
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** UK
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** High smoking rates among pregnant women in Bradford raise health concerns

A new report, using Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) data, has revealed that smoking during pregnancy remains alarmingly high in parts of Bradford, with rates reaching 25% in some areas. The study, commissioned to address smoking and vaping in the district, highlights a strong link between high smoking rates and social disadvantage. On average, 8.9% of pregnant women in Bradford smoke, above the national rate of 7.5%, increasing risks such as premature birth, stillbirth, and birth defects.

The wider impact of smoking in the district is also significant, costing an estimated £455 million annually due to lost productivity, healthcare expenses, and social care costs. While smoking rates in Bradford have declined over the past decade, they remain higher than in many other parts of England. Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive of ASH, highlighted the importance of sustained action to reduce smoking prevalence.

Source: BBC News, 3 April 2025

See also: City of Bradford - Report of the Director of Public Health to the meeting of the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee ([link removed] V - Smokefree Bradford Tobacco control Smoking Cessation and Vaping in Bradford.pdf)
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** Pharmacies granted greater flexibility in smoking cessation services

Recent changes to the pharmacy contract have widened the scope of the smoking cessation service, allowing trained non-registered staff to assist in delivering consultations. Community Pharmacy England (CPE) confirmed that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will also be able to provide two smoking cessation drugs, varenicline and cytisine, under new patient group directions.

Additional reforms include making emergency contraception freely available in pharmacies from October and incorporating antidepressants into the new medicine service. Funding of £215 million will support these and other pharmacy services, such as hypertension case-finding. However, some local pharmaceutical committees have raised concerns over fees, warning that pharmacies may struggle to operate the smoking cessation service without financial loss.

Source: Chemist and Druggist, 3 April 2025
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** Alcohol consumption patterns challenge current strategy, experts say

Experts warn that the existing approach to tackling alcohol-related harm in England is outdated, as patterns of drinking have shifted significantly. According to the Nuffield Trust, the 2012 alcohol strategy no longer addresses the current issues, especially the rise in alcohol-specific deaths and changing drinking habits.

In 2023, alcohol-related deaths in England reached a record high of 8,274, a 60% increase since 2006. While younger people are drinking less, older adults, particularly those over 65, now make up a larger proportion of heavy drinkers. Experts argue that the current focus on binge drinking and emergency hospital visits is no longer relevant, as alcohol-related harm has increasingly affected older populations.

There is a call for a new strategy that includes long-term funding for alcohol treatment and preventive measures, such as restrictions on alcohol advertising and the introduction of minimum unit pricing.

Source: Daily Mail, 4 April 2025

Editorial note: Media stories covering prevention of ill-health are being included in ASH Daily News because policy change in these areas is indicative of the Government’s position on prevention and their attitudes to harm-causing industries.
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** Weighing the risks: how vaping compares to smoking

Public perception of vaping has shifted in recent years, with more smokers believing it is just as harmful, or even worse, than smoking. In England, the percentage of smokers who think vaping is more dangerous than smoking has risen from 12% to over a third in just four years. However, scientific evidence suggests that while vaping carries risks, it is significantly less harmful than smoking and a Cochrane review found that it is one of the most effective methods for quitting.

The narrative is complicated by media stories which sensationalise the potential harms from vaping, while failing to highlight the known harms from smoking. A recent unpublished study from Manchester Metropolitan University claimed that both smoking and vaping may impact blood vessel function. This study featured heavily in the news despite having not undergone peer review, a crucial process where experts critically assess a papers scientific validity and objectivity before its findings can be considered reliable.

At the same time, the rise of vaping among non-smokers is a growing concern. In England, the number of people vaping without previously smoking has grown seven-fold since 2020, surpassing one million by 2024. Scientists agree that inhaling any foreign substances into the lungs carries risks, but they maintain that for smokers looking to quit, switching to vaping is a much safer option than continuing to smoke.

Source: BBC Science Focus, 2 April 2025

See also: ASH – Vaping Myth Buster ([link removed]) | Cochrane - Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation ([link removed])
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** International
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** Paris Metro bans exhibition advert featuring smoking artist

Paris transport authorities have blocked an advertisement for David Hockney’s upcoming exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton due to an image of the artist holding a cigarette. The decision, reportedly communicated by legal representatives of the Metro network, permits the use of a painting featuring the artist smoking but prohibits the promotional photograph.

Source: The Art Newspaper, 3 April 2025
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** Links of the Week
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** APPG Report: A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country: No one starts, everyone stops, no profit in tobacco

This week the APPG on Smoking and Health launched their new report: A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country: No one starts, everyone stops, no profit in tobacco. This landmark report sets out the urgent actions needed to end smoking in a generation and calls on all political parties to support a bold fully-funded strategy that will:

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** Reduce the number of people smoking in the UK by 2 million by the end of this Parliament
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** Invest £97 million annually in targeted stop smoking support
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** Introduce a ‘polluter pays’ levy to raise £700 million a year from the tobacco industry
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** Strengthen regulation to protect children from the harms of tobacco and vapes
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Read Here ([link removed])


** BMJ Opinion: Effective public health requires “deep prevention”

This opinion article, written by Professor Nick Hopkinson, Chair of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), discusses Bobbie Jacobson’s memoir Against the Flow. As a public health physician and deputy director of ASH in 1973, Jacobson played a pivotal role in campaigns for public health reforms and against smoking. Hopkinson’s article emphasises Jacobson’s belief in the importance of prevention over treatment, advocating for strategies that address the root causes of health issues rather than just managing their consequences.
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** Podcast: Let’s talk e-cigarettes

This podcast, presented by Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson, discusses the new evidence in e-cigarette research and includes an interview with Dr Monserrat Conde from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Dr Conde discusses the findings of the recent systematic review of electronic cigarettes and subsequent smoking in young people and an evidence and gap map.
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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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