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** 27 January 2021
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** UK
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New technology utilised to monitor e-cigarette use (#1)


** International
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** EU: Commission Cancer Plan eyes drastic cuts in tobacco use by 2040 (#2)
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US: Heavy smokers higher risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 or dying compared to people who have never smoked, study finds (#3)
US: TikTok is being used by vape sellers marketing to US teens (#4)
North Korea: North Korea in quit smoking drive (#5)


** International
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Parliamentary Question (#6)


** UK
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Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are using new ‘puff technology’ to see how people who smoke and vape use e-cigarettes.

UEA is launching a new observational study in which participants use a small monitoring device which screws onto tank-based e-cigarettes. The device measures the number and duration of users’ puffs, time between puffs, and the power used per puff – building a personalised profile of the user’s vaping patterns.

Findings will be used to help develop Artificial Intelligence to help inform people about their vaping behaviour. Researchers hope to discover more about how dual cigarette and vape use varies over time and what factors help or hinder smokers in switching away from smoking tobacco to using e-cigarettes.

Source: HT World, 26 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])


** International
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**

A draft version of the European Commission’s new Beating Cancer plan, seen by POLITICO, reveals that the European Union (EU) will push for steep drops in tobacco consumption by 2040.

The plan, which will be released on February 3^rd, aims to create a ‘’Tobacco Free Generation’’ in which fewer than 5% of Europeans use tobacco by 2040.

Before that, the Commission aims for a 30% reduction in tobacco use by 2025 compared to 2010 rates, equating to no more than 20% of the European population consuming tobacco.

The draft also reveals that the Commission will take action on the Tobacco Products Directive, the Tobacco Taxation Directive, and the legal framework on cross border purchases of tobacco by private individuals.

The Commission also plans to recommend the inclusion of e-cigarette and heated tobacco products to the Council Recommendations on Smoke-Free Environments, strengthening smokefree environments such as outdoor spaces.

Extending taxes to new tobacco products and taking aim at cigarette ads, as well as working towards plain packaging and a full ban on e-cigarette flavours, are measures also under consideration.

Source: POLITICO, 26 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])


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A new study suggests that there is an association between cumulative smoking exposure and the severity of outcomes for patients with COVID-19. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic found an association between the length of time a smoker had smoked for and their risk of negative outcomes from COVID-19. However, the association between cumulative smoking and adverse COVID-19 outcomes is likely mediated in part by comorbidities, such as heart and lung disease.

Those at highest risk were heavy smokers – defined as those smoking at least one pack per day for more than 30 years. These patients had nearly double the risk of death due to COVID-19 and were more than twice as likely to he hospitalized due to the disease.

Patients who had smoked at least one pack a day for between 10 and 30 years were nearly 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and 1.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19. Those who had smoked for fewer than 10 years were 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized and 1.6 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than non-smokers.

The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, examined data for all patients who tested positive for COVID-19 within the Cleveland Clinic Health System in Ohio and Florida between March 8, 2020 and August 25, 2020.

Source: Daily Mail, 25 January 2021

See also: JAMA Internal Medicine - Association of Smoking and Cumulative Pack-Year Exposure With COVID-19 Outcomes in the Cleveland Clinic COVID-19 Regis ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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Vape sellers are using TikTok videos as a way to create free vape advertisements for teenagers, despite a 2019 U.S law making it illegal to market e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 21.

Videos are produced set to popular and upbeat music marketing a range of vape flavours, including now banned cartridge flavours. TechCrunch found that vape sellers communicate with customers through videos and comments and direct them to what appear to be illegally operating websites. Videos often show off the seller’s current inventory of vapes.

Some sellers even promote ‘’discreet’’ packaging services which allow customers to request that packaged vapes are hidden under the package’s stuffing or tucked inside other products to avoid detection by parents. Videos depict vapes being packaged underneath candy, inside makeup bags, inside socks, and underneath other products.

Vape seller operate on TikTok under obvious account names such as @PuffUniverse and make no attempt to hide their marketing with videos referencing obvious hashtags such as #puffplus.

The charity Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) says that the TikTok marketing, as well as follow-up sales transactions conducted without age verification, are illegal. Enforcement depends on the US Food and Drug Administration stepping in, which CTFK says happens only ‘’on a very sporadic basis’’.

Though TikTok has told Televisor that it removes accounts dedicated to vaping or e-cigarette content as soon as it becomes aware of them, in practice TikTok is allowing vape sellers to operate. When reported to TikTok’s content moderation team, for example, TikTok did not remove the account of a vape seller openly advertising ‘’no ID check’’ for its vape products.

U.S. teens account for an estimated 32% of TikTok’s U.S. active users, according to third-party estimates published by Statista. Videos tagged with popular vape and e-cigarette brans and key words have amassed hundreds of millions of views.

Source: Televisor, 26 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])


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It appears that reducing smoking is as much of a priority for the North Korean government as any other. Meari, one of North Korea’s main media websites, on Monday published an article entitled, ‘’Anti-smoking and our lives’’, encouraging North Koreans to give up the habit.
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**
The article promotes North Korea’s anti-smoking activities, campaigns, and research centres specialising in treatments to stop smoking.

The article is the latest in a series of publicity pushes since the enactment of a new anti-smoking law on November 4th last year which banned smoking in public places. North Korea has previously placed no-smoking signs and posters on streets and buildings emblazoned with motivational slogans.

The article reveals that nicotine replacement therapy and dietary supplements are among the most widely used methods to help North Koreans kick the habit. North Korean researchers have produced several products to aid quitting including a supplement dubbed ‘’nutritious eggs’’ and dietary supplements and drinks made from medicinal herbs, which the country has patented. North Korea also offers citizens counselling sessions to quit smoking.

Despite its best efforts, the Government’s campaign continued to be weakened by the many public and media appearances made by Kim Jong-un in which the North Korean leader is depicted with a cigarette in hand. Jong-un is known to be a heavy smoker.

Source: Korea Herald, 27 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Parliamentary Activity
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**
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Smoking: DHSC

Asked by Lee Anderson Conservative, Ashfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is undertaking research to determine the extent to which smokers may experience more serious effects of covid-19 compared to non-smokers; and what information his Department holds on that matter.

Answered by Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care

At the request of Public Health England, an independent and regularly updated rapid review of the international evidence on smoking and COVID-19 has been made and is available at the following link:

[link removed]

The evidence on smoking and COVID-19 is mixed and developing. We do not yet have a clear picture on the impact of smoking on COVID-19 risks. There is strong evidence that smoking tobacco is generally associated with an increased risk of developing respiratory viral infections.

Source: Hansard, 26 January
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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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