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** 06 May 2021
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** UK
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** Elections 2021: Millions voting in bumper set of polls (#1)
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** International
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** Secondhand smoke linked to higher risk of heart failure (#2)
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** India's 'beedi' cigarette workers demand better conditions in West Bengal (#3)
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** Opinion: Pakistan's fight against tobacco is getting harder (#4)
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** UK
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Millions of Britons are heading to the polls today, 6th May 2021, to vote in the biggest set of elections since the 2019 general election. Voters will cast ballots in elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd, and 143 councils and 13 mayors in England. There will also be a Westminster by-election in Hartlepool.
Up to 48 million people across Britain are eligible to vote in the elections, on what has been dubbed "Super Thursday", with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing back a number of elections from last year. Voters in England and Wales will also select 39 police and crime commissioners and voters in London will choose who sits in the London Assembly.
Allowances for COVID-19 are being made, with social distancing in place and voters who are self-isolating having until 17:00 to apply for an emergency proxy vote. Results for the Hartlepool by-election and Welsh Senedd elections are expected on Friday 7th May but results in Scotland are not expected until Saturday or even Sunday. Counting in council areas in England will take place on Friday and continue over the weekend in some areas.
Source: BBC News, 6 May 2021
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** International
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** A new study has found that breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke may leave you more vulnerable to heart failure. The study, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session, showed that non-smokers with recent exposure to secondhand smoke had a 35% increased odds of developing heart failure compared with those who had not been around tobacco.
The study is the first to show the association between tobacco exposure and developing heart failure, as opposed to the impact on those with existing heart failure. It included 11,219 participants who reported being nonsmokers, followed from 1988-1994, who were 48 years old on average. Just over half were women (55.9%) and most (70.5%) were white.
Nearly 1 in 5 were found to have evidence of secondhand smoke exposure. The association between tobacco exposure and heart failure in the study remained even after controlling for other factors known to heighten the risk of heart failure such as history of other heart conditions, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Though the study could not establish cause and effect, the association of secondhand smoke exposure with prevalent heart failure persisted even when researchers undertook a comparison of 3,796 participants between 2003-2006.
The association of secondhand smoke and heart failure was stronger in men (compared with women) and among those who had reported a prior heart attack or stroke. The findings were similar across other subgroups, including different ethnic/racial groups and individuals with obesity and diabetes.
Source: Medical Xpress, 5 May 2021
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** Women and children working in the beedi trade, a thin and cheap form of cigarette traditional to West Bengal and available across India, are calling for protections and benefits because of the dangers and low pay of their work. Some workers are paid as little as 100 Indian rupees (£0.97) for rolling and making 1,000 beedis a day.
Women enter the profession largely out of economic need and suffer economic disadvantage as well as health effects. When inhaled, the contents of the cigarette can cause several health problems such as back pain, infertility, and even blindness. The children of beedi workers are also prone to disease as they sit beside their mothers and inhale the chemicals.
Women working in the beedi trade are now advocating for better mental and physical health care for beedi workers. Many are part of a growing organized workforce who are made aware of their rights. Other women, however, are paid even less and are often unaware that they work for a beedi company at all or that a cut is taken from their pay to finance a pension, which underscores how far there is to go in their fight.
Source: DW, 5 May 2021
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** Weak enforcement, the abolition of the Pakistani Government’s Tobacco Control Cell, and the tobacco lobby are making Pakistan’s fight against tobacco harder, argues Shahzada Irfan Ahmed.
At present, 19.1% of Pakistanis over the age of 15 years old use tobacco in any form and tobacco kills 118,000 Pakistanis every day. Smoking costs Pakistan more than Rs615 billion (£2.9 billion) per year. To combat this, Pakistan has placed a complete ban on advertisements of tobacco and tobacco-related products and prohibited the sale of loose cigarettes and the display of banners and placards of cigarette brands at the point of sale.
However, Ahmed says that weak enforcement is undermining these measures. According to Ahmed, the sale of loose cigarettes, especially to young people, some of whom may be underage, is common. Ahmed also says that the tobacco lobby is still a serious barrier. Last month, the Tobacco Control Cell, working under the federal health ministry, was disbanded for ‘’crossing limits’’ by trying to speak out against the tobacco lobby, according to media reports.
This has led to delays in enforcing other measures such as increasing the size of graphic pictorial warnings on cigarette packs and imposing a health levy of Rs10 (£0.05) on packs of cigarette. Tobacco control campaigners say that arguments made by the tobacco industry that increasing the price of cigarettes will fuel the illicit trade are too readily accepted by the Government. The Government values the illicit trade in Pakistan at Rs24 billion (£112 million), an estimate campaigners say is greatly inflated.
Pakistan has the lowest score of any of the 170 countries on the Tobacconomics global five-point cigarette tax scorecard, which Ahmed says demonstrates that the country had not been able to effectively tax cigarettes to increase revenue and discourage consumption.
Source: Geo News, 5 May 2021
See also: Tobacconomics - Cigarette Tax Scorecard ([link removed])
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