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** 29 April 2021
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** UK
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** Free e-cigarettes for smokers in A&E trial (#1)
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** International
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** Biden administration expected to announce plan to ban menthol cigarettes (#2)
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** 'Vulture' fund pioneer Dart builds £5bn stakes in tobacco (#3)
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** Executive pay row sparks BAT shareholder revolt (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** APPG Inquiry launch (#5)
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Parliamentary questions (#6)


** UK
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**
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** A new trial designed to help people quit smoking will give free e-cigarettes to smokers who attend emergency departments and teach them how to use them. Patients will be offered a device, enough e-liquid supplies for a week, and a referral to local smoking-cessation services, along with medical advice. Hospitals in Norfolk, London, Leicester, and Edinburgh will participate.

E-cigarettes are not currently available on the NHS, other than in trials, but are known to help people quit. An estimated 50,000 smokers quit a year in England with the help of vaping. The trial is due to start in the Autumn and will see participants given an initial vaping starter pack before funding any additional vaping materials themselves. Others will receive only leaflets with details of local smoking-cessation services. Both groups will be asked if they still smoke one, three and six months later.

Prof Caitlin Notley, who is helping lead the study, at the University of East Anglia, said: "Electronic cigarettes mimic the experience of cigarette smoking because they are hand-held and generate a smoke-like vapour when used. They can be an attractive option for helping people switch from smoking."

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** Source: BBC News, 28 April 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])


** International
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**
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** The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that it will propose a ban on menthol cigarettes and seek a ban on menthol and other flavours in mass-produced cigars, including cigarillos.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faces a court deadline on Thursday 29th April to respond to a 2013 citizen petition seeking a menthol-cigarette ban, with a suit filed by public health groups last year compelling the FDA to respond. Any ban would not require congressional approval but would likely be challenged in court by the tobacco industry, which has repeatedly sued the FDA to try to block regulation.

The bans have long been sought by public health and civil rights groups, who cite the harms of the aggressive marketing of menthol cigarettes to Black communities. Around 85% of Black American smokers smoke menthol, three times more than White smokers, and African Americans die of tobacco-related illnesses at higher rates than other groups. Some Black activists, such as the Rev Al Sharpton, have previously resisted a ban, arguing that it would be discriminatory. The tobacco industry has long targeted African Americans, giving away free samples of menthol cigarettes at gatherings in African American neighbourhoods, promoting menthol tobacco through extensive advertising, and sponsoring popular educational and cultural events, such as jazz festivals.

Campaigners have been frustrated for years by Washington’s inaction on menthol cigarettes and have largely turned to states and localities to request bans, with mixed success. However, there is now increased support among Black lawmakers for a ban, with Rep. Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Karen Bass, a former chairwoman of the group, supporting it.


Source: Washington Post, 28 April 2021

See also: CDC - African Americans and Tobacco Use ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


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** Kenneth Dart, the billionaire investor known for his ‘’vulture’’ trades in government debt, has built stakes worth nearly £5bn in British American Tobacco (BAT) and Imperial Brands. The secretive Cayman Islands-based investor, who inherited a US foam-cups empire, has taken a 7% stake in BAT and 3% in Imperial Brands through his Spring Mountain Investments fund. Dart’s fund is now BAT’s third-biggest shareholder with £4.5bn in shares. Its stock in Imperial is valued at roughly £450m.

Dart’s investments are surprising given the difficulties faced by tobacco companies. Amidst growing regulatory pressure, BAT has shed more than a third of its market value over the past five years, whilst Imperial has slumped by almost two-thirds.

Dart helped pioneer so-called vulture funds, through which investors snap up debt of countries in financial distress and attempt to profit from the eventual restructuring. He profited from crises in Brazil, Argentina, and Greece. Dart has not spoken to the media since 1993.

Source: Financial Times, 29 April 2021
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**
BAT has suffered a shareholder revolt over the high levels of its executive pay at its annual meeting for the second year running. More than 38% of voting shareholders at the annual meeting opposed the company’s renumeration report, in which it was announced that Jack Bowles, BAT’s chief executive, had received a 3% pay increase in his salary to £1.3 million, following a 9.5% pay rise the year before.

ISS, the shareholder advisory group, had recommended BAT’s shareholders oppose the pay report. ISS called the value of Bowles’ non-cash benefits ‘’unusually high’’ as Bowles’ benefits included a car allowance and driver, health insurance, tax advice, and £155,000 for security improvements to his home. His total pay was almost £5.1 million last year. ISS also took issue with the “significant” salary increase for Tadeu Marroco, BAT’s finance and transformation director, following an expansion of his role, which rose 4%to £803,400. BAT responded that the pay level was “aligned” with its shareholder-approved policy.

Richard Burrows, BAT’s chairman, stepped down from his role at the meeting having held it since 2009. BAT had earlier issued a trading update where it cautioned that the sales volume outlook in the United States remained uncertain and it had not yet seen any recovery in global travel retail. However, it said the start of its new financial year had been “robust”.

Source: The Times, 29 April 2021
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** Parliamentary Activity
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**
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** APPG for Vaping - Achieving a Smoke-Free 2030: UK Tobacco Harm Reduction Opportunities Post-Brexit

The APPG for Vaping has launched a new inquiry to consider the opportunities that the UK's exit from the EU presents for devising new legislation for vaping products and other reduced risk nicotine delivery systems post-Brexit.

For more details and to respond to the Inquiry, see here. ([link removed])

*Important note* - The APPG for Vaping has links to the tobacco industry - see Tobacco Tactics ([link removed]) .
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** PQ1-2: Public Health: Disadvantaged, Life Expectancy

Asked by Gill Furniss, Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made on the adequacy of public health provision in the most deprived areas of England.

Asked by Gill Furniss, Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle discrepancies in life expectancy between the North and South of England.

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

To support and drive local action to address inequalities, Public Health England, with the Association of Directors of Public Health and the Local Government Association, published an evidence-based resource Place Based Approaches for reducing health inequalities. This was produced to support cross-system action to address avoidable differences in health outcomes between populations and groups. We have a refreshed obesity strategy, are providing National Health Service health checks, have a tobacco control plan in place and the world’s first diabetes prevention programme. The NHS also funds national vaccination and screening programmes.

In March, we published ‘Transforming the Public Health System: Reforming the Public Health System for the challenges of our times’ which is available at the following link:

[link removed] ([link removed])

This sets out our plans to reform the public health system by establishing a new Office for Health Promotion within the department, with professional oversight from the Chief Medical Officer. The Office will lead work across Government to promote good health and prevent illness.

Source: Hansard, 26 April
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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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