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** 23 October 2020
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** UK
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** Study: Smokers quit, but excessive drinking increased during the coronavirus lockdown (#1)
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** Does vaping spread COVID-19? (#2)
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** Decline in medical charity donations puts research at risk (#3)
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** International
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** EU countries still puzzled over how to achieve a smoking reduction (#4)
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** Links of the Week
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** Webinar: Managing winter pressures through reductions in smoking (#5)
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** Study: Introduction of standardised packaging and availability of illicit cigarettes: a difference-in-difference analysis of European Union survey data 2015–2018 (#6)
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** UK
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** Twice as many people completely quit smoking after the COVID-19 lockdown began in March as did before the restrictions, a study has found.

Researchers from University College London (UCL) compared survey data collected as part of the “Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies” taken from April 2019 to February 2020 with similarly collected data during April 2020, at which point the UK had entered lockdown. On average, around 1,717 people participated in the monthly surveys before lockdown, while there were 1,674 respondents in April 2020.

The authors found that the number of attempts to quit smoking increased from an average of around 29.1% before lockdown to 39.6% in April 2020. Successful efforts to stop smoking more than doubled going into lockdown, rising from 4.1% to 8.8%. The survey result also revealed increased uptake in remote cessation support by smokers during lockdown, in the form of apps, websites, and quitting support telephone lines.

While lockdown appears to have increased the desire to quit smoking, it did not have the same kind of effect on drinking. Excessive alcohol consumption increased from 25.1% to 38.3%. Furthermore, the use of evidence-based alcohol support was seen to decrease after the pandemic began with no counteracting increase in the use of remote support.

“The fact we saw rates of quit attempts and cessation increase after the start of lockdown is encouraging,” said study author Dr Sarah Jackson. “It may be that the pandemic has made people more concerned about the effects of smoking on their respiratory health.”

“Stopping smoking brings immediate benefits to health, including for people with an existing smoking-related disease. Now is a fantastic opportunity to join the hundreds of thousands of other people quitting in England. Quitting may also have the added benefit of reducing demands on our NHS during these difficult times,” she noted.

Source: Daily Mail, 23 October 2020

See also: Addiction - Association of the Covid‐19 lockdown with smoking, drinking, and attempts to quit in England: an analysis of 2019‐2020 data ([link removed])
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** Responding to a Guardian Q&A on coronavirus, Professor Caitlin Notley, of Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia, said :“Someone infected with coronavirus clearly would be emitting viral [particles] in their vape if they were vaping, just the same as they would if they were breathing out or singing,” she said. “The thing with vaping is it makes breath visible and so when you are outside you can see huge clouds of vapour floating away in the wind.”

Notley said this underlined the need to wear masks, and for people who vaped to be considerate of others. But she said there was no evidence to say whether vape clouds were more of a problem when it came to passing on an infection than normal exhalations.

“It is not a good idea for anyone to be exhaling big clouds of vape or singing loudly in a crowded area and sharing their exhaled breath with other people,” she said. “Of course, we would not want to discourage people from vaping if they have successfully managed to quit smoking.”

Source: The Guardian, 22 October 2020
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** A leading thinktank has said a slump in donations to medical charities would result in potentially life-saving research being shelved unless the government steps in to support medical research charities.

According to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the closure of charity shops, suspension of fundraising events, and wider economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic meant medical charities stood to lose more than £4 billion between now and 2027. The collapse in funding for what is often foundational research would, in turn, cause private follow-up investment to shrink substantially, the thinktank found. IPPR expects say this would lead to an overall shortfall of nearly £8 billion over the period, equivalent to a 10% spending cut for UK health research.

Medical charities have said the pandemic has swept away much of their funding, jeopardising research institutes and the search for new treatments, and raising fears that an entire generation of scientists could be lost to the crisis. The report calls on the government to set up a life sciences-charity partnership to support the charities, starting with £443m next year, £300m in 2022 and £162m in 2023.

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Charities have driven significant breakthroughs which have turned the tide on some of our biggest killers, including heart disease and cancer. But without government commitment to a life sciences-charity partnership fund, charities will be forced to make devastating cuts to their research which will be hugely damaging for patients and UK science.”

Source: Guardian, 23 October 2020

Editorial Note

At this time of uncertainty articles are being included in Daily News if they cover issues likely to have an impact on tobacco control or smoking cessation even if they are not specifically mentioned.
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** International
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The discussion over whether ‘reduced risk’ products such as e-cigarettes can help people stop smoking has been prominent in Europe in recent years. E-cigarettes have emerged as an alternative to tobacco smoking, which is responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year in the European Union (EU).

In May 2021, an assessment of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) - which regulates e-cigarettes - will be published and will evaluate the impact of e-cigarettes as a cessation tool.

The UK has embraced the possibilities offered by e-cigarettes as a tobacco cessation tool with Public Health England, estimating that e-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. The UK has also adjusted taxation relative to the risk of the products, to intentionally create a price differential that encourages consumers to give up cigarettes for “less risky” and cheaper alternatives.

This approach is endorsed by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a leading campaign group against smoking which is supportive of greater restrictions on cigarette and tobacco sales. “If many more smokers could be encouraged to give e-cigarettes a go, the latest evidence indicates that many more might successfully quit,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH.

She added that health professionals have an important role to play in giving smokers the confidence to try an e-cigarette: “by letting them know that they can help them manage cravings and that they are a much safer alternative than continuing to smoke.”

Source: Euractiv, 22 October 2020
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** Links of the Week
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**
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** ASH and PHE are hosting a webinar on managing winter pressures through reductions in smoking on Tuesday 3 November 2020 at 10.30 – 11.45 am.

The webinar will be chaired by Dr Clare Gerada, and will:
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** Provide a rapid summary of the existing evidence around smoking and COVID-19,
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** Set out evidence on smoking and winter pressures, NHS delivery of smoking cessation treatment and the scope for intensifying activity,
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** Share tested resources to implement existing NICE guidance on smoking in NHS secondary care settings,
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** Provide an overview of planned work on smoking cessation through the NHS Long Term Plan and how this can further reduce winter pressures in future.
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** Register here: [link removed]
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**

New research published in the journal Thorax on the introduction of standard packaging in the UK, Ireland and France has found it was not linked to increases in illicit trade.

The researchers say their findings show that the tobacco industry’s claims that introducing these laws will lead to increases in tobacco being counterfeited and smuggled are false.
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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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