From Action on Smoking and Health <[email protected]>
Subject ASH Daily News for 24 February 2021
Date February 24, 2021 1:04 PM
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** 24 February 2021
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** UK
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** Vaping remains a popular aid and best for quitting smoking, study reveals (#1)
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** NHS Providers call on Government to take public health budgets for clinical services back from councils (#2)
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** International
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** India: Smoking in public hits an all-time low in Kochi (#3)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary question (#4)
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** UK
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** According to a new report from Public Health England (PHE), e-cigarettes were the most popular stop smoking aid in England in 2020, with 27.2% of smokers using a vaping product to quit compared with 18.2% using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products.

The report found that using a vaping product as part of a quit attempt in local stop smoking services had some of the highest quit success rates – between 59.7% and 74% in 2019 and 2020. Vaping prevalence was between 17.5% - 20.1% among current smokers, about 11% among former smokers, and between 0.3% - 0.6% among those who have never smoked. The proportion of vapers who also smoke, or “dual users,” has declined since 2012.

The report also revealed that vaping has plateaued in adults and young people since the last PHE report in March 2020 due to increasing misperception of the relative risk of vaping products compared to smoked tobacco. In 2020, 38% of smokers believed that vaping is as harmful as smoking, and 15% believed that vaping is more dangerous. This is out of line with expert reviews from the UK and US, concluding that using regulated nicotine vaping products is far less harmful than smoking.

Professor John Newton, director of health improvement at PHE, said: “The best thing that a smoker can do is to stop smoking completely, and the evidence shows that vaping is one of the most effective quit aids available, helping around 50,000 smokers quit a year. Thousands more could have quit except for unfounded safety fears about e-cigarettes. The evidence has been clear for some time that, while not risk-free, vaping is far less harmful than smoking.”

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** Professor Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London and lead author of the report, added: “What is concerning is that smokers, particularly those from disadvantaged groups, incorrectly and increasingly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking. This is not true and means fewer smokers try vaping.”
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**
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “As we strive to achieve a smokefree nation by 2030, more needs to be done to support adult smokers who could benefit from switching to do so, while eliminating loopholes in the laws which could be used to promote products to teenagers.”

Source: Talking Retail, 23 February 2021

See also: PHE press release - Vaping better than nicotine replacement therapy for stopping smoking, evidence suggests ([link removed])
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** NHS Providers in a briefing said the impending dismantling of Public Health England alongside plans to place integrated care systems on a statutory footing means the commissioning of some clinical public health services, such as sexual health services or school visiting, should be moved to the NHS.

NHS Providers said the public health reorganisation is “an opportunity to reconsider the commissioning arrangements for some public health services” that have become “fragmented and vulnerable to funding cuts” since the Lansley reforms in 2012 made them the local government’s responsibility. “We believe clinical public health services would be better commissioned alongside other NHS services,” NHS Providers said. This would sit “alongside a strengthened role for ICS in public health and a robust voice for local government within systems.”

NHS Providers said local leaders “must be empowered to work flexibly to what they know works”, which should include “partnership working between NHS organisations, local government and the voluntary sector. As health improvement responsibilities are redistributed and potentially devolved to a more local level, it is vital that this takes place with the system working in mind. It will be more important for local authorities to have a seat at the table in discussions taking place about local resources and population outcomes,” it added.

The briefing added: “The transfer of public health funding and responsibilities to local government while addressing the issue of public health not sitting close enough to the wider determinants of health, may in some areas have led to it being too far removed from the NHS.” Putting these public health services in the hands of the NHS “may afford services greater protection against the cuts in local government finances, which in many areas has led to disinvestment in services and erosion of budgets.”

“However, it will be important to avoid a situation in which the commissioning and funding of these services are brought back into the NHS’ remit without any additional funding — papering over the cracks in this way will not achieve the longer-term aim of putting public health services on a more sustainable footing,” it concluded.

Source: Health Service Journal, 24 February 2021
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** International
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**

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** Enforcing a ban on public smoking in the city of Kochi has been a challenge for the police, who regularly charge people for violating Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) that prohibits smoking in public places. However, the coronavirus lockdown has resulted in a drastic fall in the number of COTPA violations in the city.

Only 72 COTPA violations were registered during 2020, a steep fall from 7,746 cases reported in 2019, 14,893 cases in 2018 and 23,471 in 2017. This has also resulted in a decrease in fines. City assistant commissioner Lalji said the decline could be attributed to the coronavirus lockdown and other restrictions as part of COVID-19 safety guidelines.

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA) 2003 was enacted by the Government of India to discourage the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products by imposing progressive restrictions and protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke.

Source: New Indian Express, 24 February 2021
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** Parliamentary Activity
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**
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** Tobacco: Regulation

Asked by Lee Anderson Conservative, Ashfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Post Implementation Review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, if he will make it his policy to accept submissions directly from scientists and experts in the harm reduction sphere, in order to give due weight to the evidence from participants.

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

The Government launched a consultation on the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 as part of our statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews on the legislation. It is a public consultation and open to any individual or any organisation wishing to submit a response.

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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