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** 28 August 2020
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** UK
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** Nest goes tobacco-free a year early (#1)
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** King’s Fund blog: Improving the nation’s health: striking the right balance between national and local (#2)
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** International
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** Spain: Balearic Islands enforce new regulations to curb the spread of COVID-19 (#3)
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** South Africa: Enforce additional regulation on alcohol and tobacco products even when COVID-19 is gone, experts warn (#4)
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** India: Tobacco control advocates urge the government to introduce new measures to curb tobacco-related diseases (#5)
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** Link of the Week
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** Webinar: Implementing PH48 in mental health trusts (#6)
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** UK
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Nest, the workplace pension scheme, has completed its plans to rid its investment portfolio of tobacco assets a year earlier than it had anticipated.
The master trust confirmed yesterday (27 August 2020) that the final £40m of its tobacco stocks have now been sold just 14 months after the decision was confirmed. The move has been made amid a backdrop of stricter global regulation of tobacco products, increasing governmental legal action against the industry, and falling global smoking rates. Nest pointed to reduced smoking as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, with research from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) finding 41% of those who had recently quit noted COVID-19.
When announcing the move last June, Nest said there was “compelling evidence” that long-term trends would impact the financial performance of these firms, concluding that tobacco was now a “poor investment”.
Last month, Nest also committed to a net-zero default pension strategy by 2050, with phased divestment from thermal coal, oil sands, and arctic drilling by 2025, while halving its carbon emissions by 2030. The master trust pledged at least £5.5bn of equities to climate-aware strategies.
Source: Professional Pensions, 27 August 2020
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Read Article ([link removed] )
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** Sally Warren director of policy at the King’s Fund, has written a blog piece following a meeting of the Health Devolution Commission including former secretaries and ministers of state at the Department of Health and Social Care. The blog highlights how health devolution could deliver better health and social care outcomes, through creating local “health in all policies” approaches which reduce inequalities and help to build environmental and economic development.
The blog also discusses that devolving accountability and power to a more local level creates the potential for policy makers to know the communities and places better and to take action that is specific to the needs of those local communities.
In conclusion, Warren says: “we need a bold mix of national and local leadership and action, which means national politicians need to give away some power, while using the power they have to better effect.”
Source: The King’s Fund, 27 August 2020
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Read Blog ([link removed] )
** International
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** Smoking in the street, on beaches, terraces, in parks and any other public space in the Balearic Islands is banned from Friday, 28 August 2020. According to new regulations, anyone caught smoking will be fined 100 euros. The restrictions will be imposed by local police, who are also monitoring the use of face masks.
The President of Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol, held a virtual meeting with Mayors from the Islands on Thursday (26 August) to ask for their collaboration to make sure the new regulations are enforced.
Armengol explained to the Mayors that the entire population must help stem the spread of COVID-19 by being responsible. She also thanked them for increasing disinfection work and stepping up inspections in their Municipalities.
Source: Majorca Daily Bulletin, 28 August 2020
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Read Article ([link removed] )
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** South Africa should consider additional regulations around alcohol and tobacco, even when COVID-19 is no longer a factor. This was one of the pieces of advice the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 gave to health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on 17 August 2020.
The committee said while there were no longer medical, COVID-19 specific reasons to maintain the prohibition on sales of alcohol and tobacco products as the country eases coronavirus lockdown measures, the government should look at the regulations of these products once the pandemic crisis is over.
The letter to the health minister, reads: “There may be many non-COVID-19 related reasons for additional controls on both tobacco and alcohol, such as increased taxes and controls on quantities. These should be implemented separately at a later stage unlinked to COVID-19.”
Source: Times Live, 27 August 2020
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** Tobacco consumption is contributing significantly to the rising number of cancer cases in India; so, doctors and others are urging the government to step up its tobacco control measures. According to a new report released by the Indian Council of Medical Research, cancer cases in the country are likely to jump from 1.39 million in 2020 to 1.57 million in 2025.
The report was based on information collated from 28 population-based and 58 hospital-based cancer registries across the country. It states that nearly 370,000 cancer cases this year alone will be caused by tobacco consumption, including cancers of the lips, tongue, mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, larynx, lungs, and bladder.
Dr Kataki, director of the Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, said: “The government has to give a strong push to tobacco control if it intends to reduce the cancer burden in the country. It is also the responsibility of the society and citizens to demand such laws and ensure that they are stringently implemented.”
Rajashree Kadam, vice-president of the non-profit Salaam Bombay Foundation, said: “The raw, chewable form of tobacco is easily available and culturally accepted in rural India. There is little awareness of its harmful effects. Tobacco companies typically target youth with surrogate advertisements. Their lobby is very strong in the country, and it is time the government stands up against it.”
Source: South Florida Times, 26 August 2020
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Read Article ([link removed])
** Link of the Week
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** On Wednesday 9th September, ASH in collaboration with Mental Health and Smoking Partnership is hosting a webinar on implementing smokefree policies in mental health trusts in line with NICE guidance PH48 ([link removed]) .
The webinar will focus on 4 best practice case studies from trusts on their experiences implementing the PH48 guidance.
Register here: [link removed]
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