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** 21 October 2020
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** UK
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** Treasury scraps three-year spending review to focus on coronavirus (#1)
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** MPs voice health concerns after study show the first decline in e-cigarette use (#2)
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** International
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** Study: Researchers study the association between tobacco use and kidney cancer (#3)
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** UK
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** The Treasury this morning confirmed reports that the proposed three-year comprehensive spending review had been abandoned in favour of a one-year review because of the economic chaos caused by COVID-19.
Instead of setting out departmental spending plans for three years, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will focus on a one-year package to support employment and help public services cope with the pandemic. Mr Sunak confirmed some areas of public spending “crucial to our economic recovery” would have longer-term settlements.
The chancellor told the prime minister that a comprehensive review — setting out spending totals across Whitehall — should not go ahead during the coronavirus crisis. The issue has reportedly created tensions between Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson, and intensive negotiations have been going on over the past week on whether any compromise could be found.
A decision to scrap the three-year review is a setback for Mr Johnson, who saw the event as a chance to map out his priorities for a post-COVID world. It will also be a disappointment for defence chiefs, who wanted certainty on how to plan for a new era of changing threats against the backdrop of tight budgetary constraints.
Source: Financial Times, 21 October 2020
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** MPs have voiced concerns about the first decline in the number of people vaping and its possible impact on public health.
It follows the recent publication of a study by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) which showed that for the first time, adult e-cigarette use has declined year-on-year, from 7.1% in 2019 to 6.3% in 2020. This amounted to 3.2 million people still vaping in the period to February/March 2020 compared with some 6.9 million smokers.
The study also shows that some 32.4%, of smokers, have not yet tried e-cigarettes with 21% of them saying they do not want to substitute “one addiction for another.” There has also been an increase in those citing safety concerns as their main reason for not trying e-cigarettes, 8% say they do not know enough about them while 9% say they do not believe they can help them quit or cut down their smoking.
Gareth Johnson MP, a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for vaping, said: “Vaping is significantly safer than smoking and false information to the contrary is literally costing lives. If smokers switch to vaping, there is clear scientific evidence that it is better for their health, so we need more encouragement of smokers to make this change.”
Another member of the parliamentary group, Scott Mann MP, said: “For many years now the harm-reduction impact of vaping in the UK has been a key asset in efforts to improve public health. To see the number vapers, fall for the first time, when millions of people continue to smoke across the country, is a cause for concern. The public must be empowered to understand and access less harmful alternatives, not be pushed away.”
Editorial note
The Secretariat to the APPG for vaping is provided by the UK Vaping Industry Association which has tobacco company members.
Source: Talking Retail, 20 October 2020
See also: ASH - Use of e-cigarettes (vapes) among adults in Great Britain ([link removed])
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** International
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** Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified new clues into ways tobacco use impacts patients with kidney cancer. Expanding on previous work that identified the mutations of kidney cancer cells, this study reveals metabolic fingerprints that distinguish cancers from non-smokers compared to smokers.
The researchers analysed tissues of patients who were tobacco users as well as those who were not, uncovering the widespread effects of smoking in this form of kidney cancer.
The data show that tumours from long time smokers represent a separate metabolic subtype of kidney cancer with different weaknesses and which could require a dedicated treatment strategy.
The researchers highlighted that “there is a need for an in-depth analysis of metabolic subtypes of these cancers to establish the best way to treat each individual tumour. This is one of the earliest studies to establish that this type of analysis is necessary. Personalised, or precision medicine, has the promise of offering a specific and unique therapy based on the molecular landscape of each patient’s cancer. This has huge potential to change outcomes for patients, leading to better and longer lives.”
Source: Medical Xpress, 20 October 2020
See also: Journal of Clinical Investigation - Tobacco smoking induces metabolic reprogramming of renal cell carcinoma ([link removed])
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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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