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** 24 March 2021
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** UK
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** Matt Hancock announces a new health agency focusing on preventing future pandemics (#1)
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** Urgent lung cancer referrals fall by a third (#2)
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** “A class act”: Chris Whitty, the calm authority amid the Covid crisis (#3)
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** International
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** Indian Railways launches drive against smoking and carrying of inflammable items (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** West Minister debate: Smokefree Society by 2030 (#5)
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** Parliamentary questions (#6)
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** UK
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**

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** The government has launched a new public health body dedicated to further tackling COVID-19 and preparing the UK against future pandemic threats.

Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, will head up the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which is to be established from 1st April 2021. The agency brings together the work of Public Health England (PHE), NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre to better co-ordinate Britain’s health protection and emergency strategies.

Matt Hancock said the new body would be a “dedicated, mission-driven national institution for health security”, one that is responsible for monitoring and responding to infectious disease outbreaks and overseeing specialist laboratories at Porton Down.

During a Local Government Association virtual conference, Matt Hancock said: “UKHSA, as it will be known, will be this country’s permanent standing capacity to plan, prevent and respond to external threats to health.” It will deploy “the full might of our analytic and genomic capability on infectious diseases,” he added. The agency, which is expected to be fully operational by autumn, was due to be called the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP). However, Mr Hancock said its new name better reflects the UK-wide focus of the organisation.

The health promotion work of PHE, which includes work on obesity, smoking and physical activity, will be taken on by central government.

Source: Independent, 24 March 2021

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** See also: DHSC - Securing our health: the UK Health Security Agency ([link removed])
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** BBC - Covid: Health security body gives UK 'protective shield' ([link removed])
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** Cancer Research UK (CRUK) warns that multiple lockdowns have resulted in damaging delays in life-saving treatment. According to an analysis by CRUK, around 20,300 fewer people were referred for treatment in England between March 2020 and January 2021 compared to the same period the year before – a 34% drop.

The charity has now warned that multiple lockdowns have resulted in damaging delays in life-saving treatment, as people are either ignoring symptoms altogether or putting off seeking help to comply with COVID-19 rules. Lung cancer is the deadliest type, but if it is diagnosed early when it is more treatable, 57% of people will survive for five years or more. This compares with 3% of people diagnosed at the latest stage.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: “We’re hugely concerned for people who have symptoms but haven't come forward or are putting off further tests. Government and NHS leaders must give cancer services the resources needed to ensure patients can swiftly receive tests and a prompt diagnosis. They must also continue public awareness campaigns to encourage people who notice any unusual changes to their body to contact their GP and reassure them that surgeries and hospitals are safe.”

Source: The Telegraph, 24 March 2021
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**
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** In a year dominated by the COVID-19 crisis, England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has appealed far beyond Westminster with a brand of calm authority.

According to David Heymann, a former chair of Public Health England who is head global health security at the thinktank Chatham House, one of Whitty’s key skills has been to maintain politicians and academics’ confidence – two groups that do not always see eye to eye, Prof David Heymann notes. “People trust him because he bases his decisions on evidence. I’ve seen him stick to his principles when he’s challenged. He’s not willing to sell himself off,” adds Heymann.

This quality was displayed by Whitty in a Gresham lecture on lung cancer last month, where he was clear where the blame lay for Britain’s most common cancer death. “This is cancer entirely for profit,” he said. “Almost all of the people who get this cancer … have got the cancer because an extremely wealthy, incredibly sophisticated marketing industry – the cigarette industry – has got them addicted to cigarettes at a young age and kept them addicted the rest of their lives, and then they die. This should never be a cancer blamed on individuals. This is a cancer created by [the] industry for profit.”

Loyd Grossman, Chair of Gresham College, believes such straight-talking is what we need. “The pandemic has generated more bad information and misinformation than the assassination of JFK, the moon landings and 9/11 put together, and it’s more important than ever to provide really sound, rigorous information in a way that people can actually understand,” he says.

Source: The Guardian, 22 March 2021
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** International
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**
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** Indian Railways announced on Tuesday (23 March 2021) a range of measures against smoking and carrying inflammable items, which have reportedly caused recent fire incidents onboard trains.

The national transporter has instructed zonal railways to initiate an intensive awareness drive over seven days to educate all railways users and staff about precautions to be taken against fire incidents.

In a directive, the Railway Board said these include enforcing the “no-smoking” rule, preventing carriage of inflammable material, distribution of leaflets, pamphlets, pasting of stickers, conducting street plays, announcement through public address system at stations, and advertisement in print, electronic and social media.
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**
Source: CNBC TV, 23 March 2021
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** Parliamentary Activity
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**
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** Yesterday, Tuesday 23rd March, a debate was held in Westminster Hall on a Smokefree society by 2030. The debate was raised by David Jones MP.

Jones called on the Minister to introduce a new reduced-risk smoking products category to provide a “robust regulatory framework” to cover non-combustible tobacco products, saying that they have a role to play in achieving a smokefree 2030. He also suggested that the ban of snus should be lifted, proposing the oral tobacco product could be regulated under this new category.

Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said that the government is working to ensure that no communities are left behind, as part of the bold ambition to be smokefree in England by 2030.

Responding to Jones, Churchill said: “… In our future tobacco control plan, we will consider further research on other emerging nicotine products that have the potential to help people quit—because there is no such thing as a safe tobacco product, and all tobacco is harmful, including smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products that we have discussed today.”

“No assessment has yet been made of the safety of tobacco-free nicotine pouches. These products are not covered under the tobacco regulatory regulations, but rather the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, and the current numbers are from industry and therefore will need a degree of validation. […] Public Health England will publish its final evidence review, including a chapter on heated tobacco, later this year.”

Source: Hansard, 23 March 2021
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**
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**
PQ: Smoking

Asked by Mary Glindon, North Tyneside

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will work with the vaping industry in challenging misinformation that is deterring smokers from switching to less harmful alternatives.

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

The Government continues to review the evidence of reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes, including their harms and usefulness as an aid to stop smoking. Although not risk free, current evidence suggests e-cigarettes are less harmful to health than smoking and can help some people quit.

Public Health England (PHE), through their stop smoking campaigns, provide information, advice and support on using e-cigarettes to help smokers quit. Smokers can also access local stop smoking services who provide a range of quitting methods to suit the individual smoker’s preferences and this may include support for smokers who wish to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. The highest success rates in these services are seen among those combining expert advice with e-cigarettes.

In line with the Government’s commitment to article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Department only meets with vape trade organisations who are independent of the tobacco industry. The Department and PHE meet with the Independent British Vape Trade Association to discuss industry concerns and wider regulatory matters, including misinformation.

Source: Hansard, 23 March 2021
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Read Transcript ([link removed])


** PQ: Smoking: Poverty

Asked by Mary Glindon, North Tyneside

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps local stop-smoking services are taking to reduce smoking rates amongst the poorest in society where smoking prevalence is highest.

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

Local authorities are responsible for providing stop smoking services in their communities and are best placed to identify those in need of support and how to deliver an effective service. Public Health England provides analytical toolkits, assessments and guidance to help local authorities.

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** Source: Hansard, 23 March 2021
[link removed]
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**
PQ: Smoking: Public places

Asked by Mary Glindon, North Tyneside

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to issue guidance on differentiating between smoking and vaping in (a) the workplace and (b) other public places to help support smokers who are transitioning away from cigarettes from risk of relapse.

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

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** It is for individual organisations and businesses to implement their own policies on e-cigarette use in the workplace. Public Health England has published guidance to support organisations in developing policies around vaping in workplaces and public places and recommend such policies to be evidence-based. The guidance is available at the following link:
[link removed] ([link removed]) .

Source: Hansard, 23 March 2021

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