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Health Secretary Matt Hancock made a speech about ‘The Future of Public Health’ at Policy Exchange today, 18 August. He announced the formation of a new public body, the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP), which will replace Public Health England (PHE).
He said: “The National Institute for Health Protection will have a single and relentless mission: protecting people from threats to this country’s health. It will report directly to ministers and support the clinical leadership of the chief medical officers. It will be dedicated to the investigation and prevention of infectious diseases and external health threats.”
Hancock said that the Government would consult on how to embed PHE health improvement priorities across the Health Service and would announce further details in the coming weeks.
From today Public Health England (PHE), the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) and NHS Test and Trace will operate under a single leadership, reporting to Conservative peer Baroness Dido Harding. He highlighted that the new NIHP’s immediate priority will be pulling together the operational response to COVID-19 and that the system would learn from South Korea and Germany “where their health protection agencies have a huge, primary focus on pandemic response.”
The speech was recorded and is now available online:
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Abolishing Public Health England (PHE) could usher in the second wave of coronavirus, a leading doctors’ group has warned. At least 280 specialist public health registrars are urging Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, to delay the shake-up until after the winter.
The Telegraph revealed Matt Hancock’s plans to abolish PHE and merge its pandemic response function with NHS Test and Trace. The move is understood to reflect a view among ministers that PHE has failed in its response to coronavirus, particularly to lay on enough testing and accurately report the number of deaths. However, a group of public health experts, including Professor Maggie Rae, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, are warning that a major restructuring could distract from the task of keeping coronavirus at bay.
Writing in The Telegraph, they say: “We are deeply disturbed by the recently leaked news of another top-down restructure of the English public health system, particularly mid-pandemic and without forewarning staff. Public Health England provides critical support to the NHS, local authorities, and social care. A poorly-planned and timed restructure risks undermining national and local strategy, systems and expert knowledge, damaging further the pandemic response and the public's health.”
As well as a delay to the proposed shake-up, the group wants to see funding to prevent ill-health in the first place, a key function of PHE, to be increased and ring-fenced.
Source: The Telegraph, 17 August 2020
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Thousands of illicit tobacco products have continued to be smuggled and sold in shops across Greater Manchester throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But what is often forgotten is the true cost of illegal tobacco, the lives of the communities and individuals, often children caught up in the trade.
A new campaign launched yesterday, 17 August 2020, raises awareness of the industry’s links to human trafficking, loan sharking and the drugs trade. The Keep It Out campaign reveals that those peddling poisonous products at pocket money prices are often responsible for children developing a lethal addiction which kills one in two people. The campaign has also released a powerful short film showing young people buying and smoking illegal tobacco. It depicts the darker side of the trade, with gang members and human traffickers vying for control of the product.
Andrea Crossfield, Making Smoking History Lead at the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership said: “Illegal tobacco might seem like a bargain, but it comes at a high price to our kids and our communities. No one wants their kids to get hooked on smoking, but two in three kids who start smoking continue. Legal or illegal, all tobacco contains a toxic cocktail of chemicals which will kill one in two long term smokers. We also hope the Keep It Out campaign will highlight the bigger picture around illegal tobacco’s links to organised crime and the impact on our neighbourhoods.”
The crackdown on illegal tobacco forms part of wider efforts to cut smoking rates across Greater Manchester.
Source: Oldham Evening Chronicle, 17 August 2020
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Health workers at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust have launched the first of a regular series of health promotion campaigns which will run monthly across the hospital trust. The displays will be positioned in the hospitals public waiting areas and will include information about the advice and support available to help smokers quit. The focus this month is on the Trust’s smokefree status, which will highlight the help available including from the community stop smoking service.
Lisa Tomlinson a nursing associate in centralised outpatients is one of the Trust’s smokefree champions. She said: “So many patients, staff and visitors pass through these areas every day – making them the perfect place to display important information that could be useful to them. Sometimes just having that information available can help make a difference. When it comes to stopping smoking, I know through the champions training I have had that many smokers want to make that change but just do not know how to start.”
Rafeed Rashid, secondary care specialist stop-smoking advisor, said: “Signposting smokers to the help which is out there is so important. It is the first step in helping them make that life-changing decision to quit.”
Source: Hartlepool Mail, 17 August 2020
See also: Today is the day
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Around 145,000 illegal cigarettes were seized from Chatham businesses following a series of warrants organised by Kent Police. Four businesses in the town were visited by officers in the Medway Community Safety Unit, working in partnership with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Medway Council on Friday,14 August 2020.
Court warrants were secured ahead of the visits to grant officers access to private areas of the shops. A specialist search dog helped with the discovery of thousands of illegal cigarettes hidden in a fridge-freezer concealed behind a tiled wall in a shower. Officers also found illicit tobacco products hidden behind ceiling tiles and in parked vans.
Officers from HMRC will now progress the investigation.
Source: Kent Online, 17 August 2020
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PQ: Coronavirus: Passive smoking
Asked by Caroline Lucas, Brighton Pavilion
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of more people eating and drinking outside as a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on the number of people being exposed to passive smoking; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
No assessment has been made on the number of people being exposed to passive smoking while eating and drinking outside as a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Source: Hansard, 17 August 2020
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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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