|
|
|
|
Wales’ CMO calls for a prevention-led approach
Wales’ Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Professor Isabel Oliver is calling for an urgent shift towards health prevention, following the annual CMO report that found that life expectancy is falling and more people are living with preventable health problems. The annual assessment highlights widening inequalities, with deprived communities experiencing the sharpest decline in healthy years of life.
The report highlights that around 75% of deaths in under-75s in Wales are preventable, and that successful prevention initiatives such as tobacco control show that significant improvements can be made. The report found that if smoking rates in Wales reduce from the current 10% to 8%, this could prevent nearly 600 deaths and 2,700 hospital admissions each year.
Source: WalesOnline, 4 December 2025
|
|
Lincolnshire Councillors call for improved support on vaping and gambling
Lincolnshire County Council’s adult social care and public health scrutiny committee have suggested improvements to their Integrated Lifestyle Service. Councillors questioned whether current programmes adequately cover issues such as substance misuse, gambling problems and youth vaping.
Responding to a question about youth vaping, Prof Derek Ward, Director of Public Health at the council, emphasised that for people who smoke, vaping can be a useful quit aid, but people who have never smoked should not start vaping.
Source: LincsOnline, 4 December 2025
|
|
Essex County Council launches new guidance to help curb youth vaping
Essex County Council has introduced two new guidance packs designed to help parents, carers, schools and professionals working with young people respond to the increasing number of young people using vapes. One resource is tailored for education services, and the other for parents and carers. Both toolkits offer practical guidance, information, suggested ways to start conversations about vaping, and directs users to services offering quit support.
The council is pairing its educational efforts with enforcement activity, with Essex Trading Standards continuing to monitor and act against illegal sales of age-restricted products.
Source: Daily Gazette, 4 December 2025
See also: ASH – Use of vapes (e-cigarettes) among young people in Great Britain |Essex Safeguarding Children Board – Youth Vaping Toolkits
|
|
Industry figures discuss trends in tobacco and nicotine sector
The article in Convenience Store outlines current trends in the tobacco, vapes and ‘next generation products’ sector. Aquavape’s head of marketing Laura Cope highlights recent Elf Bar survey data that shows that 85% of people who vape now buy refill pods and also cites Action on Smoking and Health data that shows nicotine pouch awareness reached 56% in adults in 2025. The Head of Marketing at Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Prianka Jhingan, noted that the company believes the nicotine pouch category will continue to grow.
Source: Convenience Store, 5 December 2025
Editorial note: This article has been included to provide insight into market trends and industry developments.
See also: ASH- Nicotine pouches
|
|
Travel retail’s changing tobacco market
This article in DFNI Frontier reflects on the diversification of tobacco within travel retail, where traditional cigarette sales now sit alongside luxury cigars and an expanding range of alternative products. The article discusses travel retail exclusive product launches such as those from Davidoff cigars, and Philip Morris International’s IQOS X Seletti limited edition heated tobacco launch in Milan.
Source: DFNI, 4 December 2025
Editorial note: This article has been included to provide insight into market trends and industry developments.
|
|
Written question
Asked by Baroness Hoey, Non-affiliated
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential barriers to implementing the provisions of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in Northern Ireland in line with the Windsor Framework, following the opinions submitted by Greece, Romania and Slovakia to the European Commission expressing their view that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would be incompatible with EU law.
Answered by Baroness Merron, Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Health, Labour
The Technical Regulatory Information System (TRIS) notification is a routine procedure required under the Windsor Framework. It is not an approval process.
Receiving detailed opinions are a part of the TRIS process. The Government’s position remains that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will apply in Northern Ireland and is consistent with both our domestic and international obligations.
|
|
Podcast: Let’s talk e-cigarettes, episode 47, November 2025
Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Dr. Elly Leavens, Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the University of Kansas Medical Centre.
|
|
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here.
For more information email [email protected] or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
