From Action on Smoking and Health <[email protected]>
Subject ASH Daily News for 8 September 2020
Date September 8, 2020 12:46 PM
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** 8 September 2020
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** UK
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** Opinion: Make the polluters pay for smoking (#1)
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** Wholesalers push for HMRC rule change as tobacco sales spike (#2)
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** Opinion: Councils should be at the centre of a renewed push on public health (#3)
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** International
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** South Africa alcohol, tobacco ban created new criminal networks (#4)
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** The Netherlands: anti-plastic campaigners pick up 142,000 cigarette butts (#5)
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** Study: Smoking and second-hand smoke may raise COVID-19 risks (#6)
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** UK
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** Lord Young of Cookham, a Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, shares his opinions on a polluter-pays charge on the tobacco industry as a means of providing sustainable financing for the tobacco control measures needed to deliver the Government’s smoke-free ambition.

“Public Health England (PHE) may not have been perfect, and the debate has focused on the future of its health protection functions. But there is a risk of overlooking the rest of its work on health improvement ”- concern set out in a joint statement sent to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health this week, signed by over 70 health organisations and alliances.

Lord Young says he was delighted when the Government announced its ambition for England to be ‘smoke-free’ by 2030, including an ultimatum for the industry to make smoked tobacco obsolete. His goal has always been to end smoking, which at the time he was a Health Minister forty years ago, was thought to be an unachievable object, fraught with political difficulty. The industry described him as a fanatic; now that ambition is government policy – and supported by the public.

Smoking remains the leading cause of health inequalities, and is still the leading cause of premature death, killing nearly 100,000 a year in the UK. “We need a fresh approach to combat this epidemic. Governments have adopted the “polluter pays” policy in many areas; why not smoking?” This approach would place a legal obligation on the tobacco manufacturers to pay the cost of essential evidence-based tobacco control measures, such as public education campaigns, smoking cessation clinics, and enforcement against illicit and underage sales.

“The tobacco industry should pay for the damage it does, which they can afford to do so because of the abnormal profits that it makes, which are far higher than for other consumer products. This would free up part of the current public health budget for other important areas, such as obesity. As COVID-19 has demonstrated, government interventions to improve public health are welcomed and expected by citizens – not abhorred as the nanny state.” Whoever takes over PHE’s responsibilities for health improvement should champion this policy, along with others backed by The All-Party Group on Smoking and Health. These include increasing the age of sale to 21, allowing only licensed retailers to sell tobacco, and warnings on cigarettes as well as packs.

Lord Young ended by saying: “This is an idea I can lay claim to initiating when I was a Health Minister. When I proposed it to the tobacco barons, it was resisted on the grounds that the ink contained substances that could damage the smoker’s health (Yes, honestly; that is what they told me).”

Source: The Times, 8 September 2020
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Wholesaler tobacco sales have risen so sharply in the past few months they have asked Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to revise rules around allocations ahead of the Budget. Purchasing restrictions, known as forestalling, took effect the week of 1 September, and are traditionally implemented a couple of months ahead of the Budget to stop businesses stockpiling tobacco before a hike in duty.

The period used by HMRC to calculate these restrictions is based on tobacco sales between July 2019 and June 2020. However, since March, tobacco sales from wholesale into retail have jumped 17% year on year, according to figures submitted to the government by the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD).

The FWD said this was down to several factors, including an increase in shoppers using the convenience channel since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, a decline in the black market and travel restrictions limiting the availability of counterfeit tobacco products. As a result, the FWD and Association of Convenience Stores wrote to HMRC warning that businesses could run out of tobacco unless the quantities wholesalers were allowed to purchase during the controlled period were increased to reflect the surge in sales.

HMRC told The Grocer it would review allocations on a case-by-case basis, adding that only “exceptional circumstances” would be considered, but recognised the spike in sales. FWD CEO James Bielby welcomed HMRC’s flexibility and is urging members to contact HMRC directly if they are concerned about allocations.

Source: The Grocer, 4 September 2020
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** Councillor Sir Ray Puddifoot, London Councils’ executive member for health and care, shares his opinions on how local authorities must be at the “heart of a new national push on improving public health provision, with future spending decisions reflecting the benefits of preventing ill health for citizens and the NHS.”

He highlights that councils have been at the forefront of the public health response to COVID-19 with their “unrivalled ability to harness local knowledge and to coordinate services for the benefit of their communities.” Therefore, it is so crucial to have well-funded public health services proactively tackling the causes of ill health and helping people to make healthier choices.

Councillor Ray says he was pleased when Boris Johnson launched in July a new national strategy on reducing obesity, which is such a critical public health challenge. Another longstanding public health concern is smoking, which remains the leading cause of preventable illness and death. Smoking damages the heart and lungs, putting smokers at greater risk of life-threatening complications if they get COVID-19. Boroughs, together with their health partners are committed to bringing these numbers down significantly as winter approaches and levels of demand on NHS services will only increase.

He points out that as the comprehensive spending review approaches “councils’ public health funding to rise in line with the NHS budget”. An increase in public health resources would provide “a real boost to our ability to plan service provision and make an impact on health and wellbeing.”

Source: The MJ.co.uk, 7 September 2020
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** International
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** South Africa could take years to dismantle the criminal networks that sprung up and benefited from a ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products during the country's coronavirus lockdown, according to the head of the tax agency.

South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said Monday in an online address to tax practitioners that the ban, aimed at managing the health impact of the coronavirus pandemic, had allowed illegal operators to gain a foothold in the market.

Tobacco and liquor remained readily available through the black market from when the ban first kicked in with the nation's coronavirus lockdown on March 27. Producers and retailers have complained the restrictions have resulted in thousands of job losses and encouraged illegal trade. National Treasury data show the government lost out on 9.5 billion Rands ($568 million) in alcohol and tobacco taxes in the first four months of the fiscal year. A 2018 report published by the country's industry--funded Tobacco Institute which they said showed South Africa was already one of the world's biggest markets for illicit cigarette sales at the time.

The revenue service is working with law enforcement agencies to bolster its investigative capabilities to tackle tax fraud and illicit activities, Kieswetter added.

Source: Aljazeera, 7 September 2020


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** Anti-plastic campaigners collected 142,000 cigarette butts from streets across the Netherlands this weekend to highlight the contribution they make to plastic pollution.

The campaigners also called on the government to ban cigarette butts that contain plastic and other harmful chemicals and to encourage the tobacco industry to take responsibility for preventing cigarette-related litter. Pick-ups were organised in 18 different cities. In Amsterdam, 70 volunteers took part and picked up 56,000 cigarette butts throughout the afternoon.

Karl Beerenfenger from “By the Ocean we Unite”, one of the initiators of the PlasticPeukMeuk collective, said: “Communication campaigns do not solve the issue. We must change the product itself. Cigarette filters only serve as a marketing tool to sell more cigarettes. We want to get rid of the plastic cigarette filter altogether.”

Article 8 of the European Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) specifies that tobacco producers are required to pay for ridding the streets of cigarette butts containing plastic filters, and the campaigners want the government to set a target of a 70% reduction in cigarette end pollution by 2023.

Source: Dutch News, 7 September 2020
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** A pre-print of an Australian study suggests smoking may alter genes in a way that creates more cellular entry points for coronavirus. The new coronavirus enters the body by hijacking proteins on the surface of healthy cells, a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

The scientists found that in adult lungs, smoking just three cigarettes can increase activity in the part of the genome that codes for the ACE2 protein. Dr Alen Faiz, the research lead found that ACE2 levels were lower in people who had stopped smoking for more than a month. He said: “Our preliminary data suggest that second-hand smoke exposure of 1-year-old children … increased ACE2 expression in their airways.”

The researchers also found higher levels of the ACE2 genes in the nose compared to the lung airways, indicating the nose may be more easily infected. But while it is known that the coronavirus uses ACE2 to break into cells, there is as yet no proven link between higher expression of the genes and the severity of COVID-19 infection, Dr Faiz added.

The study report has not been peer-reviewed.

Source: Mirror, 7 September 2020

See also: medRxiv Preprint: Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 receptor gene expression in upper and lower airways ([link removed])

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For more information call 020 7404 0242, email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk

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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