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** 04 February 2021
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** UK
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** Barry Hearn warns ban on betting firms a disaster for sports (#1)
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** International
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** EU earmarks 4 billion euros in the fight against cancer (#2)
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** Republic of Ireland: Tobacco sales up as travel ban means less stocking up at airports (#3)
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** US: DHS campaign reminds retailers tobacco purchase age is 21 (#4)
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** UK
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** Barry Hearn, founder and chairman of Matchroom Sport, has become the latest sports figurehead to detail concerns on the government’s approach to reforming the UK’s gambling laws. He has warned that a blanket ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship would be “a disaster for every layer of sport” but has welcomed the prospect of a new regulation.
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** With a call for evidence set to expire in March, sources close to Downing Street say there is a resolve to press ahead with reform but also an appreciation that the COVID-19 crisis has already had an enormous financial impact on the sector. Half of Premier League teams and 16 out of the 24 Championship sides had betting partners’ last season.
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** Matt Zarb-Cousin, director of Clean Up Gambling, said that the relationship between football and gambling “needs to be reset” and, as part of the promised fan-led review of football governance, suggested a levy on gambling operators that went back to governing bodies.
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** Hearn stressed the importance of making new legislation proportionate. He said: “Clearly, there’s going to be some action, but we don’t know how far. … But I do think that the idea of self-governance is not going to work. There do need to be rules in place, and the government’s got to come up with a wording.”
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** Source: The Telegraph, 1 February 2021
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** 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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** On Wednesday (3 February), the European Commission unveiled a €4 billion ($4.8 billion) plan to prevent, treat and research cancer in the EU as part of a bigger project for an integrated health policy. The European Commission wants to reduce the proportion of smokers in the EU to 5% by 2040.
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, launching the “Beating Cancer Plan” on the eve of World Cancer Day (4 February), said the goal was to ensure EU citizens have the same chances of survival no matter which member state they live in. She said it is “unacceptable that today we have different access to prevention programmes across the EU, different rates for early diagnosis, early detection, treatment and of course survival.”
The plan aims to reduce smoking, alcohol consumption, and pollution over the coming years and promote a healthy lifestyle to reduce the 40% of preventable cancer cases. It also sets a goal of vaccinating 90% of girls in the European Union against the human papillomaviruses that can cause cervical cancer. Additionally, it will support increased breast, cervical and colorectal cancers screening and look at extending those to prostate, lung, and gastric cancers.
Kyriakides also said the bloc will look at “excise rules for alcohol and tobacco and leave the issue of consumption to science.”
The European Cancer Patient Coalition said that, while it was thrilled” with the plan, “it is equally important to ensure the effective implementation.”
Source: Medical Xpress, 3 February 2021
See also: European Commission press release -Europe's Beating Cancer Plan: A new EU approach to prevention, treatment and care ([link removed])
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** Tobacco sales in Ireland rose 7.8% last year as the pandemic ended tobacco tourism, retailers say. The sharp increase in sales tallies with preliminary excise receipts for tobacco products, up approximately 6% in 2020, Revenue said.
It is not that more people are smoking but that they cannot travel to countries such as Bulgaria, Lithuania, or Croatia to buy cheaper cigarettes, said Vincent Jennings, chief executive of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA).
Annual surveys by the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Health regularly show that 8-9% of all cigarettes consumed in Ireland are purchased legitimately abroad. On Monday (1 February), the European Commission laid the ground for new excise rules it intends to publish at the end of the year, suggesting tobacco and alcohol tax be paid in the country you consume, rather than buy, the products. It also proposed mandatory limits on the amount of tobacco and alcohol you can bring back from abroad for personal use.
The Department of Finance said it would “engage constructively” with the European Commission on the plans.
Source: Independent.ie, 4 February 2021
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** The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has unveiled a new campaign educating retailers that federal law now requires tobacco purchasers to be 21 years old.
The Federal tobacco purchasing age was raised from 18 to 21 at the beginning of 2020, and local health advocates say it was a long-overdue change. The campaign’s message to retailers is simple: “Don’t sell tobacco to anyone under [the age of] 21.”
Tobacco is Wisconsin’s leading cause of preventable death and costs the state more than $4.6 billion annually in health care and lost productivity expenses.
Source: WSAW, 3 February 2021
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