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** 25 August 2021
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** UK
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** Smoking surge in young during Covid lockdown (#1)
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** Scottish Government urged to ban smoking at school gates (#2)
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** Legal case against levelling up fund criteria gets green light (#3)
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** Salaries of £250,000 considered for ICS CEOs (#4)
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** International
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** Study: French women smoke fewer cigarettes than men but find it more difficult to quit (#5)
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** Northern Mariana Islands: Partnership aims to reduce cancer and tobacco-related illnesses (#6)
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** UK
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** A new study from Cancer Research UK has found that the number of young adults taking up smoking in England rose during the first coronavirus lockdown. The research found that the number of 18 to 34-year-olds who classed themselves as smokers increased by a quarter from 21.5% to 26.8%.

Overall, the findings suggest an extra 652,000 young adults were smoking during the first lockdown compared with before the pandemic. The data does not explain why the increase occurred but experts including study author Dr Sarah Jackson believe it could be due to pandemic-related stress.

The research did however find that the number of existing smokers successfully quitting smoking also rose during the lockdown. It also looked at alcohol consumption and found that heavy drinking increased across adults of all ages during the first lockdown.

The findings were published in the journal Addiction and came from monthly surveys about tobacco and alcohol use each involving hundreds of people. Researchers compared responses given in the seven months prior to the first lockdown in spring 2020 and those given during it.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said swift action was needed to reverse this worrying trend: "The growing number of young adult smokers is a ticking time bomb, as smoking is an addiction which puts people on a path to premature death and disability which is hard to escape. The government has committed to publish a new Tobacco Control Plan this year, which is welcome. The new figures provide proof, if it were needed, that unless the plan is sufficiently ambitious and well-funded it will not deliver the government's ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030."

Source: BBC News, 25 August 2021

See also: Addiction - Moderators of changes in smoking, drinking and quitting behaviour associated with the first COVID-19 lockdown in England ([link removed])
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** Campaigners in Scotland including Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Scotland have called for the Scottish Government to ban smoking at school gates to protect children from secondhand smoke as they return to school after the summer break.

The charities have also pointed to the risks of pollution from cars at school gates and called on the Scottish Government to ban vehicle idling outside local schools with strong penalties for offenders. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said that improving air quality is “an urgent priority.”

Source: The Gazette, 24 August 2021
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** High court judges have agreed to hear a case brought by campaigners over the Government’s criteria for prioritising cash from its £4.8bn levelling up fund. The High Court will decide whether the fund unlawfully sent cash to areas considered to be “of political benefit to the Conservative party”.

The methodology for distributing levelling up funds has come under fire for prioritising councils within the constituencies of chancellor Rishi Sunak and communities secretary Robert Jenrick. Barnsley and Salford MBCs, which are both in Labour MPs' constituencies and are among the most deprived parts of the country according to the index of multiple deprivation, were ranked as second-tier priorities.

The case against the Government is being brought by The Good Law Project, a campaign group that has taken legal action against the government multiple times in recent years. The criteria used for levelling up uses measures such as commuting distance to work by car, empty housing, and productivity levels. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has been surveying councils about how they view the applications process and delivery of government funding schemes.

Source: LGC, 24 August 2021
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** HSJ understands that chief executives of the larger ICSs could be offered salaries of around £250,000 as NHS England seeks to make the roles more attractive to experienced top-level leaders. HSJ has learnt that salaries of this magnitude are being discussed for roles in the larger systems including the seven ICSs with populations of more than 2 million, Cumbria and the North East; Greater Manchester; Cheshire and Mersey; West Yorkshire; North West London, East London; and South West London.

The new roles in these areas are expected to be advertised in September. NHSE has told clinical commissioning group accountable officers that they are guaranteed an interview for the new roles but are not, in legal terms, “suitable alternative employment” to being a CCG chief, meaning that it is easier for NHSE to recruit outsiders rather than give the role to incumbents in CCGs.

Well-placed sources said the CEO roles were seen as substantially different to that of CCG accountable officers and salaries would reflect that. Most trust chief executives are paid less than £200,000 but those of larger trusts tend to be paid more with some paid more than £250,000, whereas the guide salary for accountable officers of larger CCGs has been around £130,000 to £140,000.

Source: HSJ, 24 August 2021
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** International
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** A new study of more than 35,000 smokers in France has found that women smoke fewer cigarettes than men but are less likely to quit. The study found that the average number of cigarettes smoked daily (23 versus 27) and rates of severe nicotine dependence (56% versus 60%) were lower for women than men, but abstinence was less common for women (52%) than men (55%).

The study compared characteristics and abstinence rates of men and women visiting smoking cessation services between 2001 and 2018 in France. The study enrolled smokers aged 18 and older and with at least one additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease such as being overweight or obese, having high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, history of stroke, heart attack or angina. The study defined nicotine dependence on a scale ranging from mild, moderate, or severe dependence. Smoking abstinence was self-reported and confirmed by carbon monoxide testing.

The study also tested for the respective levels of anxiety, depression, and obesity amongst men and women in the cohort and report author Ms Ingrid Allegbe said that the higher prevalence of these issues in women than men might be a factor in the greater difficulty women face in quitting. Allegbe concluded that tailored smoking cessation programmes were needed for women offering a multidisciplinary approach involving a psychologist, dietitian, and physical activity specialist.

Source: News Medical Life Sciences, 25 August 2021
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** Revenue The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has shared the results of its 2016 CNMI Hybrid Survey which show that rates of cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses are 3 to 4 times higher in the CNMI than in the US mainland. The survey also showed that of the 1 in 4 adults who chew betelnut, 80% use tobacco when they chew.

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation’s (CHC) Health and Vital Statistics Office reports that 76% of deaths in the CNMI between January to June 2021 were due to non-communicable diseases and related risk factors. According to the CNMI Cancer Registry, lung, and mouth cancer, primarily from tobacco use, are two of the top 5 cancers in the CNMI. Data also shows that younger people in their 30s and 40s are increasingly being diagnosed with cancers related to their tobacco use.

The CHC’s Non-Communicable Disease Bureau recently signed a partnership with the Northern Marianas College Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service to offer nicotine cessation classes at the college, designed to expand tobacco control efforts and to reduce morbidities.

Source: The Guam Daily Post, 24 August 2021
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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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