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** 17 December 2020
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** UK
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** Call for more training on smoking cessation for mental health nurses (#1)
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New Stop Smoking London campaign launches (#2)


** International
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** MEPs reach deal with European Council on 2021-2027 EU health programme (#3)
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** New study links cadmium to more severe flu, pneumonia infections (#4)
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** Self-help group calls on Indian Government to introduce uniform taxation on smokeless and other non-Virginia tobacco in India (#5)

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** UK
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** Mental health nurses and psychiatrists are not receiving adequate training to support patients to quit smoking, a new report published today by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) reveals. Despite one in four smokers having a long-term mental health condition, the current training of mental health nurses and psychiatrists to help their patients to quit smoking was “woefully inadequate”, according to the charity.

The report was based on the views of 427 mental health nurses and psychiatrists in adult community or inpatient settings in NHS organisations across England, surveyed in November 2019.

It found that “large numbers” of mental health nurses and psychiatrists “still reported gaps in training in relation to key aspects of national guidance” on smoking. In total, 33% of mental health nurses and 59% of psychiatrists surveyed said they had not received any training on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance PH48 Smoking: acute, maternity and mental health services – described by the charity as the “key national guidance in this area”. Only 17% of mental health nurses and 13% of psychiatrists surveyed felt their undergraduate training on links between smoking and mental health had been adequate.

Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at ASH, said: “Many thousands of people with mental health conditions die from smoking every year and this will continue unless there is adequate investment in staff training. If the government is serious in its desire to level up society and deliver a smokefree nation by 2030 doctors and nurses must be trained to give smokers with mental health conditions the help they need to quit.”


Source: Nursing Times, 16 December 2020

See also: ASH - Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health nurses and psychiatrists ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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Stop Smoking London have launched a campaign ahead of the new year to help more Londoners make 2021 their time to quit smoking for good. They have published two new guides on their website, one looking at how smokers can make their New Year’s resolution to quit a success and the other on the role that friends and family can have in helping their loved ones succeed.

The guides followed Stop Smoking London’s insight work with smokers across the capital in 2020 which found that saving money and better health topped people’s reasons for wanting to quit, followed closely by family. The guides provide a range of tips on planning, keeping motivated and on track during a quit journey, including the importance of being clear and focused on why you are quitting from the start, and how to get the people closest to you behind you.

Dr Somen Banerjee, Vice Chair of the ADPH London Network and London Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Control Lead, said, “New Year’s resolutions can often fail because people are aiming for an overhaul of their entire lifestyle rather than focusing on one behaviour change. The information on the website will help London smokers at this important time of year for quitting.”

Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England’s Director for London, similarly said, “As the new year fast approaches, it brings with it another opportunity for a fresh start. With these new guides, plus evidence based local, regional and national smoking cessation support, 2021 can be the year you quit smoking for good – for your own benefit and for those around you.”
Source: London Post, 16 December 2020

See also: Stop Smoking London Guides ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


** International
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** A new EU health programme worth 5.1 billion EUR will help to fix shortcomings exposed by COVID-19 and boost quality and resilience of EU health systems. The new programme is aimed at preparing European health systems to face future cross-border health threats. In total, 20% of the programme’s budget will be invested in health promotion and disease prevention measures addressing health risks such as the harmful use of tobacco. Digitalising healthcare, including by supporting the creation of a European health data space, is also part of the deal.

The programme, called the “EU4Health Programme”, was agreed on Monday by European Parliament negotiators as part of the EU’s recently agreed long-term budget.

Source: Wired-Gov, 16 December 2020

See also: EU4Health Programme ([link removed])
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** High levels of cadmium, a chemical found in cigarettes and in contaminated vegetables, are associated with higher death rates in patients with influenza or pneumonia—and may increase the severity of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, according to a new study.

The study by researchers at U-M, the University of Southern California and the University of Washington is published in the December issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Nearly 16,000 participants in two separate cohorts were used for the analysis. Cadmium was measured in urine in the first survey and blood in the second. Because tobacco has more than 3,000 chemical components, researchers also looked at cadmium levels in non-smokers.

After adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, body mass index, serum cholesterol and hypertension, researchers found that patients with cadmium levels in the 80th percentile were 15% more likely to die of influenza or pneumonia compared to those in the 20th percentile.

Lead author Sung Kyun Park, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, stated that, "Our study suggests the public in general, both smokers and non-smokers, could benefit from reduced exposure to cadmium. COVID-19 may not be a one-time event. Our findings suggest that the public can benefit from reduced cadmium exposure when the next pandemic occurs. This cannot be done suddenly and takes time through policy changes."

Source: Medical Xpress, 16 December 2020

See also:
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** Environmental Cadmium and Mortality from Influenza and Pneumonia in U.S. Adults ([link removed])
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* Smokefree Action Coalition - Smoking and COVID-19 FAQs ([link removed])

Read Article ([link removed])


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** Shram, an Indian self-help group which aims to raise awareness on tobacco and alcohol and includes a large number of doctors and healthcare professionals, appealed on Thursday 17^th December to the Indian Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman to introduce uniform taxation on smokeless and other non-virginia tobacco products.

Improved regulation would boost government earnings by Rs 40,000 crore (around £4 million), the group said. According to a study published in BMC Medicine, India accounts for 70% of the deaths globally caused by smokeless tobacco, which is widely available in India.

Dr. Mukul Bajpai of Shram said, “The debilitating state of the smokeless tobacco sector demands a regulatory structure akin to that in place for other tobacco products. This largely unorganized and unregulated sector sees consumers of all age groups with the average age of tobacco consumers being as early as 17.4 years, according to Global Adult Tobacco Survey. Failure to tax smokeless tobacco and its forms uniformly defeats the purpose of the tobacco control programme.”

Dr Indramani Pandey of Shram added that “these products are consumed by the poorer section of society with impunity due to their affordability and accessibility in the absence of any regulations … failure to bring them under the ambit of a uniform tax structure defeats the purpose of a tobacco control program.”


Source: Business World, 17 December 2020

See also: Global burden of disease due to smokeless tobacco consumption in adults: an updated analysis of data from 127 countries ([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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