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** 24 September 2020
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** UK
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** As coronavirus derails UK budget plans, what happens now? (#1)
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** International
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** Almost two million people die from tobacco-induced heart disease each year, new report finds (#2)
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** How COVID-19 stimulus money will end up in US tobacco farmers' pockets (#3)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary questions (#4)
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** UK
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**
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** Rishi Sunak was expected to deliver a budget in November that set a course for Boris Johnson’s government for the rest of the parliament. A resurgence in the pandemic has left the chancellor’s plan in tatters. Here we ask what it means for the government, how Whitehall will cope – and the precedents.

There is a recent precedent for a budget delay. Sunak’s predecessor, Sajid Javid, was due to hold a budget in November 2019, but a looming general election and disputes over Brexit forced a delay. Javid resigned soon after the election, preventing him from delivering a single budget.

The event must be held every year as the precursor to a finance bill, which sets out the government’s tax and spending priorities. That forced Sunak to hold a budget in March this year, just before the financial year ended on 5 April.

Like Javid, Sunak wanted the budget to be held in the autumn to give the public, businesses and civil servants plenty of time to put in place big changes to the tax and spending policies before the financial year-end. A significant budget next year will give taxpayers and government departments little scope to make adjustments.

A four-year comprehensive spending review (CSR) – which sets departmental budgets – was due to accompany the budget after the last CSR was set in 2015 and given a one-year extension last year. A strategic plan is unlikely, making another one-year extension a certainty.

Source: The Guardian, 23 September 2020

Editorial note:
A one-year spending review creates additional uncertainty reducing local authorities and national stakeholders ability to plan the activity needed to deliver the ambitions of the Tobacco Control Plan and Prevention Green Paper.

An analysis by the Health Foundation found that an extra £0.9 billion a year is required to reverse real term per capita cuts in the public health grant since 2015/16 and over £2bn a year extra would be needed to allow additional investment in the most deprived areas where there is greatest need.

Local authority public health teams have a vital part to play in the national response to COVID-19, working alongside the health care service. The current situation reinforces the need for a properly funded, resilient local public health system.
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** International
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**
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** Almost two million people die each year from tobacco-induced heart disease, a new report by the World Health Organization has found. Around one in five deaths from heart disease are caused by tobacco use or exposure to second-hand smoke.

And just a few cigarettes a day, occasional smoking, or exposure to second-hand smoke increase the risk of heart disease, the report warns. Around 1.4 billion people are thought to use tobacco worldwide, according to 2017 estimates.

And while the number of smokers has fallen in the last decade, the latest findings, which were published on Tuesday, serves as another stark reminder of the silent health risks posed by tobacco use.

In the face of the current Covid-19 pandemic, experts have called on governments to step up controls and increase support for those looking to quit, in a bid to reduce the burden on the already-stressed global healthcare system.

“Governments have a responsibility to protect the health of their people and help reverse the tobacco epidemic,” Dr Vinayak Prasad, head of the WHO ‘No Tobacco Unit’ said. “Making our communities smoke-free reduces the number of tobacco-related hospital admissions, which is more important than ever in the context of the current pandemic,” he added.

Source: The Telegraph, 23 September 2020

WHO: Tobacco and Coronary Heart Disease ([link removed])
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** US government aid payments to tobacco farmers will be channeled through a new account within the office of the agriculture secretary, an unusual move that bypasses the normal mechanism for distributing farm aid and stokes concerns about how the government is using COVID-19 stimulus.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday said it will pay up to $100 million to tobacco farmers from Congress’ coronavirus economic stimulus package, as part of a $14 billion assistance program for farmers hurt by the pandemic.

The payments would benefit farmers in North Carolina, a swing state in the Nov 3 presidential election and the country’s top tobacco producer. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are locked in a dead heat among likely voters in North Carolina, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.

The existence of the new USDA account has not been previously reported. In response to questions from Reuters this week, USDA said there was nothing wrong with the new account - which it originally set up this spring - and said it has taken steps to track the flow of funds.

Groups including the American Lung Association and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids were dismayed that aid meant for Americans struggling with fallout from a deadly lung disease was earmarked for tobacco. Health advocates said the money should instead go toward efforts to prevent smoking, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says may increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

“It is particularly troubling that in the midst of this pandemic ... the federal government would do more to promote tobacco as opposed to helping smokers quit,” said Erika Sward, national assistant vice president of advocacy for the American Lung Association.

Source: Reuters, 23 September 2020
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** Parliamentary Activity
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**
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**
PQ1: Smokefree 2030

Asked by Mary Kelly Foy Labour, City of Durham
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the July 2019 Green Paper entitled Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, when he plans to publish further proposals on moving towards a smokefree country by 2030.

Answered by By Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
Smoking rates are at their lowest ever levels in England at 13.9%. However, we are not complacent, and the Government is committed to protecting the population from the harms of tobacco. We intend to publish the Government response to the Prevention Green Paper, ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ in due course and key steps and ambitions to deliver smokefree 2030 after this.

Source: Hansard, 23 September 2020

[link removed]

PQ2: Smoking

Asked by Lee Anderson Conservative, Ashfield
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the regional variation in smoking cessation rates.

Answered by By Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
One of the main aims of the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England is to reduce the regional and socio-economic variations in smoking rates, by achieving system-wide change and targeting actions at the right groups.

Actions include promoting links to smoking cessation services across the whole health and care system and full implementation of relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines by 2022.

‘Smoke-free generation: tobacco control plan for England’ can be viewed at the following link:
[link removed]

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning a range of stop smoking support to meet the needs of their local population. Public Health England supports local authorities to do this by providing a range of data and guidance.

Source: Hansard, 23 September 2020

[link removed]

PQ3: Smoking in Ashfield

Asked by Lee Anderson Conservative, Ashfield
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the smoking cessation rate in Ashfield.

Answered by By Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The smoking rate for adults in Ashfield has seen an overall decline, from 27.8% in 2011 to 19.8% in 2019. The following table shows the trends in smoking rates for adults in Ashfield, the East Midlands and England since 2011.

Source: Hansard, 23 September 2020

[link removed]

PQ4: E-cigarettes

Asked by Alex Sobel Labour, Leeds North West
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of vaping on the transmission on covid-19.

Answered by By Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is more likely to be transmitted via passive exposure to cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapour. However, being in close proximity to anyone with an active infection would carry a risk of infection regardless of whether they are smoking or vaping.

Source: Hansard, 23 September 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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