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The Chief Executive of the Sickle Cell Society, John James has written to the Prime Minister urging him to ensure that smaller charity partnerships are not lost when Public Health England (PHE) is merged into the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP). The letter follows previous concerns raised by the leaders of more than 70 health organisations, who warned that the abolition of PHE would damage the fight against obesity, smoking and alcohol misuse.
In August, health secretary Matt Hancock announced that PHE would be merged into a new NIHP alongside NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre. James' letter to the Prime Minister says that sickle cell, an inherited blood disorder that affects about 15,000 people in the UK, is missing from the debate, despite the UK’s national screening programme being a global leader. The programme is run in collaboration with PHE.
The letter urges the Prime Minister to ensure that the decades-long partnership is not compromised because of the decision to scrap PHE, in favour of other high-profile public health priorities. The letter said: “Small charities like ourselves are incredibly vulnerable, particularly in this economic and political turmoil. [...] The structure of PHE must consider our contribution to the public health agenda and the diverse communities we serve. [...] I therefore seek your assurance that this will be the case.”
The Department of Health was asked what will become of the hundreds of millions of pounds' worth of contracts between voluntary organisations and PHE once the body is scrapped by the government, however it declined to directly answer the query.
Source: Third Sector, 30 September 2020
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Members of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing sub-committee opted to revoke the premises licence of a convenience store after a court hearing held earlier this week. Trading Standards called for the licence review after a range of suspected illicit tobacco products and pharmacy-subscribed tablets – used for treating erectile dysfunction – were found on a visit in March 2020.
This had followed a test purchase set up weeks before the raid in which a customer was sold a packet of suspected counterfeit Richmond cigarettes for £4. At the hearing, a Trading Standards officer said they, along with police and a tobacco detection dog, attended the store following the test purchase. They discovered the cigarette gantry was open with products for sale on display, which is contrary to tobacco advertising regulations. A search of the premises discovered a range of illicit and suspected counterfeit tobacco and over 300 erectile dysfunction tablets. The store had previously been warned over supply of illicit tobacco in 2015.
At the hearing, the shop owner said he had turned to buying illegal cigarettes for personal use as a result of mounting financial pressures. He said: “The cigarettes, we did sell a few. I’m not going to lie and I’m not trying to justify that either. I do apologise for what I have done. Unfortunately, it was a situation I got caught in. I first bought the cigarettes for myself and even when I first started selling them, we tried to keep it within the family and close friends and not to sell to the open public. We couldn’t afford the proper cigarettes at the time – with all my debts and bills with the shop."
Source: Express and Star, 29 September 2020
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A stop smoking poster has been cut after it emerged the subject has previous criminal convictions.
Carl Dolphin, from Bolton, appeared in court four years ago for harassment of a woman and her mother and, in 1990, was given a community service order for his involvement with football hooliganism. Alongside his picture on the billboard are the words ‘This year has been the wake-up call I needed to stop smoking’. Local health leaders have now said they will remove the posters from their campaign following complaints from the public about Dolphin's past.
Following complaints from the public about Dolphin's past and appearance on the posters, A spokesperson for The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are determined to make smoking history in Greater Manchester and sharing the experiences of real people who have successfully stopped smoking is an important part of our approach. [...] We take public feedback seriously and would never want to cause offence. [...] We are now removing this story from the campaign.”
Cllr Sue Haworth, Bolton Labour spokesperson on health and deprivation, backed the stop smoking campaign and said that Dolphin’s inclusion “reminds us that smoking is an issue for people from all walks of life”. Cllr Haworth added that “The quit smoking campaign is helping and supporting people in the borough to kick the habit and enjoy the benefits that this brings to both health and ‘pounds in the pocket’."
Source: This is Lancashire, 1 October 2020
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A recent publication in the Journal of Neuroscience by a group of researchers at the University of Kentucky has looked into encoding the odour of cigarette smoke.
Tim McClintock, a physiology professor at the University of Kentucky, explained the significance of the work: “The odour of cigarette smoke triggers the desire to smoke in both smokers and former smokers. Now that we know the receptors that respond to this odour, we can start to work on blocking them."
McClintock says they expect blockers to improve smoking cessation. The study was made possible thanks to recent technological advances in this field, "It has only been six years since we announced the invention of a new technology that allows us to identify the receptors responding to odours. We've been gradually working up from single odours towards more complex mixtures ever since," said McClintock.
Source: News Medical Life Science, 1 October 2020
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The Maharashtra state government has banned the sale of loose cigarettes and beedis, with the aim of reducing the consumption of tobacco and to comply with national legislation requiring tobacco products to be accompanied by a graphic warning.
Maharashtra follows the states of Chhattisgarh and Karnataka which banned the sale of loose tobacco, beedis and chewing tobacco earlier this year and in 2017, respectively.
Over 1 million people die from tobacco-related diseases in India every year.
Source: Indian Express, 1 October 2020
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