From Action on Smoking and Health <[email protected]>
Subject ASH Daily News for 23 February 2021
Date February 23, 2021 1:16 PM
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** 23 February 2021
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** UK
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** Sales of cigarettes and tobacco rise substantially during lockdown despite more people quitting (#1)
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** HSJ Exclusive: Sharp drop in patient goodwill towards NHS since Autumn (#2)
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** Unions urge PM to announce a recovery roadmap for NHS workers (#3)
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** International
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** Kenya: State to classify BAT nicotine pouches as tobacco products (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary question (#5)
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** UK
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** Sales of cigarettes and tobacco rise substantially during lockdown despite more people quitting (#1)
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** New figures have shown that sales of cigarettes rose by 7% and sales of rolling tobacco rose by more than a third during lockdown, despite an estimated one million people in Britain having quit smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cigarette sales increased to £12.4 billion and sales of rolling tobacco to £4 billion during 2020. Whilst some of this increased spend was down to higher government taxes, the volume of sales went up by 3.3% for packets of cigarettes and by 30% for rolled tobacco.

Experts have suggested that the rise may be because some people, particularly younger adults, who had previously quit smoking may have restarted amidst the boredom and stress of lockdown. In addition, those who smoke and have spent more time at home than usual may now be smoking more than before.

The rise comes amidst the success of quit smoking campaigns last year emphasising the importance of good health during the pandemic, which saw one million quit. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Director of Policy, Hazel Cheeseman said “It's a mixed picture. For many smokers the pandemic prompted a positive change and those who tried to quit have been more likely to succeed. But for others it appears the additional stress and boredom of the last year is leading to higher levels of smoking and a return to smoking for some who had quit.”

Source: Daily Mail, 22 February 2021
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** HSJ Exclusive: Sharp drop in patient goodwill towards NHS since Autumn (#2)
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** The HSJ has seen analysis showing that patient positivity about the NHS hospital services suffered a sharp drop during the autumn in satisfaction, with access now well below pre-pandemic levels. The analysis covers only acute hospital services and is of social media and online sentiment, conducted by PEP Health.

The drop-off in goodwill came between January and October 2020 after the peak of the first wave of COVID-19, when praise was high. Hospitals became busier at this point, with more emergency attendances and efforts to get planned appointments and procedures back close to normal levels creating strain on emergency departments and long waits for elective care.

The PEP Health study aggregated patients’ comments about their care into ratings of eight quality domains on a scale of one to five: fast access to healthcare, unscheduled care, maternity, oncology, effective treatment, appropriate environment, emotional support, and whether care would be recommended.

The analysis found that overall experience rose from around 4 to 4.2 during the first lockdown last spring before dropping down to pre-pandemic levels last Autumn. The biggest drop in satisfaction was in fast access to healthcare, which declined to 3.5 by January, well below pre-pandemic levels. A total of 97% of trusts showed decline in fast access ratings over the past six months.

Effective treatment ratings have now returned to levels similar to those reported shortly before the pandemic in most areas. Satisfaction with emotional support received during care has also risen, with 78% of trusts showing an improvement in emotional support ratings over the past three months.

The analysis found that the South West, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber consistently outperform other regions in overall experience, with London consistently below the rest of the country.

Source: HSJ, 22 February 2021
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** Unions urge PM to announce a recovery roadmap for NHS workers (#3)

Union leaders are calling on the government to launch a recovery plan for NHS workers as part of plans to ease the COVID-19 lockdown, as new research showed the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their mental health. The survey was conducted amongst NHS workers ranging from ambulance staff and paramedics to porters and cleaners.

A survey of 3,000 health workers by the GMB union found more than half of those who contracted coronavirus said it had either had negative or severe medical impact on their mental health. Around 1,000 said they have had COVID-19, with most saying they experienced poor mental health as a result. Workers described experiencing seizures, shock, emotional damage, and a lack of mental health support.

Separately, the government announced on Monday 22nd February 2021 that it had set up forty mental health hubs across England for NHS staff traumatized by COVID-19. NHS personnel will be able to ring one of the 40 new hubs to receive advice and be referred to support from psychologists, mental health nurses, therapists, and recovery workers.


Source: The London Economic, 22 February 2021
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** International
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** Kenya: State to classify BAT nicotine pouches as tobacco products (#3)

Kenya plans to classify British American Tobacco (BAT) nicotine pouches as tobacco products by law, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said on Monday 22nd February 2021.

The move would see nicotine pouches become subject to similar marketing restrictions to those imposed on cigarettes and other tobacco products by Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act, such as on promotion and advertising, usage in public areas, and use by minors.

This follows events last year which saw Mr Kagwe accusing Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poisons Board of flouting tobacco control laws when it licensed the sale of BAT’s nicotine pouches. The Health Ministry eventually declared them illegal, but BAT opened talks with the government last week seeking a reversal of this ban.

Source: Business Daily Africa, The London Economic, 23 February 2021
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary question (#3)

Smoking: DHSC

Asked by Lee Anderson Conservative, Ashfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment the Government has made of trends in the consumption of (a) vapes and e-cigarettes, (b) heated tobacco products, (c) tobacco and nicotine and (d) cigarettes.

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

The Office for National Statistics' 'Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2019' shows that smoking prevalence in England has decreased from 17.8% in 2014 to 13.9% in 2019. The percentage of adults using e-cigarettes in England has increased from 3.7% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2019. Of those who use e-cigarettes daily, 42% also smoke cigarettes. Among smokers and vapers, greater use of e-cigarettes is associated with lower use of smoked tobacco.

Public Health England closely monitors trends in tobacco and nicotine products and will publish its next Vaping in England report later this month. A range of data sources are used including official and academic surveys. Use of heated tobacco products has consistently remained at rates of less than 1% of the adult population in England.

Source: Hansard, 23 February 2021
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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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