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** 9 September 2019
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** UK
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** Health experts reassure British vapers after deaths linked to vaping in US (#1)
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** Scientist asks Public Health England to change approach to vaping (#2)
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** Birmingham sees increase in smoking rates (#3)
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** International
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** India: Gujarat tobacco association ask Prime Minister for help (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** House of Lords Debate (#5)
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** Parliamentary Questions (#6)
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** UK
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**

Health experts have moved to reassure British vapers in the wake of a severe respiratory illness that has killed at least five people and hospitalised many more vapers in the US. More than 450 possible cases among otherwise “healthy young people” are being investigated, US officials said on Friday. They have reported that affected individuals have experienced respiratory symptoms including a cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Some also experienced vomiting and diarrhoea. Symptoms worsened over a period of days or weeks before admission to hospital.

The outbreak has led to fears that vapers in the UK could also be affected. However, Martin Dockrell, head of Tobacco Control at Public Health England, drew a distinction between vaping in the US and the UK. He said reports suggested that most cases in the US had been linked to people using illicit vaping fluid, bought on the streets or homemade, some containing cannabis products, like THC, or synthetic cannabinoids, like spice.

“Unlike the US, all e-cigarette products in the UK are tightly regulated for quality and safety by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and they operate the yellow card scheme, encouraging vapers to report any bad experiences,” he said.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said that to date no serious side-effects had been reported in the UK. “In Britain, you can check on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website whether the product you’re using has been notified and can be legally sold.”

Paul Aveyard, a professor of behavioural medicine at the University of Oxford, said: “These cases are worrying and need investigating but advice from all official bodies in the UK is that it is always preferable to vape than to smoke. These reports should not change that advice.”

Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2019
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E-cigarettes may damage the heart, scientists have concluded, and have called for Public Health England (PHE) to stop recommending vaping.

Researchers carried out a systematic review of 38 studies into the cardiovascular impact of vaping. Human studies in the new analysis showed vaping led to an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness and platelets which cause clotting. It also increased free radicals and reduced anti-oxidants, raising the risk of plaque build-up in the artery walls, which can lead to a heart attack.

Asked whether PHE should now change its advice, Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who co-authored the new analysis said: “The simple answer is yes.”

Around three million Britons now use e-cigarettes. Since 2015 Public Health England (PHE) has advised smokers to switch to vaping, claiming it is around 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco. However, last week US health officials warned people to quit vaping following the deaths of five people, and at least 215 cases of ‘respiratory distress.’

However, despite the deaths and cases of respiratory problems, experts behind the original PHE advice have continued to defend e-cigarettes.

Linda Bauld, Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “It seems highly unlikely that widely available nicotine containing vaping products, particularly of the type regulated in Europe, are causing these cases. Authorities who are reacting to these cases by advising no one to vape are by default sending the message to people who have quit smoking through vaping that they should return to tobacco. This is misleading, and potentially irresponsible. Authorities in the USA should be prioritising confirming the causes and addressing this illicit market, not pushing people back to smoking which we know carries multiple risks to health.”

See also:
Preventative Medicine:The cardiovascular effects of electronic cigarettes: A systematic review of experimental studies. ([link removed]) July 2019

Source: The Telegraph, 8 September 2019
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Birmingham is seeing arise in the number of people who smoke. Experts have said the ‘disappointing’ upturn means that more mass media campaigns and education are needed to reduce smoking rates.

It is the first time that smoking has increased in the city since 2013. The figures, collected by Public Health England, are obtained from the Annual Population Survey, which asks people to self-report on whether they smoke. They show that in 2018, 16.2% of adults across Birmingham described themselves as smokers, up from 13.7% in 2017. The number had previously been falling year-on-year from a high of 19% in 2013.

Smoking rates increased among both men and women in the city in 2018. The percentage of men who smoked was up from 17% in 2017 to 19.2% in 2018, while among women the figure rose from 10.6% to 13.3%.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said that “the government will need to work even harder if it is to meet its goal of England being smokefree by 2030. And this action is urgent - last year, smoking killed 78,000 people in England alone. We know that the more disadvantaged someone is, the more likely they are to smoke. Though disadvantaged smokers are just as likely to want to quit smoking, they are far less likely to succeed when they try.”

Source: Birmingham Mail, 4 September 2019
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** International
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**

Gujarat Tobacco Merchants Association and Gujarat Tobacco Growers and Merchants Association have published a letter in prominent Indian national newspapers appealing the Union government to intervene and help the Indian tobacco industry. The letter argues that at a time when tobacco farmers are struggling, the news that the Ministry of Health is planning to ban e-cigarettes could be fatal for farmers who have been supplying nicotine to e-cigarette manufacturers.

They urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let them share their opinion and views with an appropriate office or department before the ordinance is put in place.

Source: National Herald, 9 September 2019
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** Parliamentary Activity
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**

During a House of Lords debate on sexually transmitted diseases last week Baroness Blackwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary Department of Health and Social Care, confirmed that there will an uplift in the Public Health Grant over the next year.

Baroness Blackwood said that “the spending review yesterday announced 1% real-terms growth for the public health grant, which I know will be very welcome because it means that local authorities can continue to invest in prevention and essential front-line health services, including sexual health services.”
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**

Asked by Andrew Lewer MP, Northampton South
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) Public Health England and (b) his Department are taking to ensure that smokers are aware that heated tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes.

Answered by Jo Churchill MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The consumption of any tobacco product is harmful. Therefore the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to stop use of tobacco products, including heated tobacco products. As part of our commitment to evaluate the evidence of these products, we will run a call for independent evidence to assess how effective heated tobacco products are, or are not, in helping people quit smoking. Furthermore, as committed in the Tobacco Control Plan, Public Health England will continue to review the evidence on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems annually till 2022.

Source: Hansard, HC Deb, 5 September 2019
Link: [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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