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** 22 September 2021
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** UK
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** Smokers encouraged to take part in Stoptober, as they report smoking more during pandemic (#1)
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** International
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** Standardised packaging in Canada evaluated (#2)
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** UK
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**
Stoptober is back to launch its 10th mass quit attempt on 1 October, calling on smokers in England to join the 2.3 million others who have made a quit attempt with the campaign since it launched a decade ago in 2012, according to Public Health England’s monitoring evaluation data.
Over 6 million adults in England still smoke, and it remains the leading cause of premature death, with almost 75,000 preventable deaths a year. A new nationwide survey of 2,000 current smokers, released today, has found that nearly half (45%) have been smoking more since the first lockdown began. Key reasons reported are due to being bored in the lockdowns (43%) or the COVID-19 pandemic making them more anxious (42%). Data from the monthly UCL Smoking Toolkit Study indicates a large increase in smoking among the under-35s since the pandemic – up from 18% in 2019 to 24% now.
The disruptive impact of the pandemic on smoking patterns make this year’s Stoptober mass quit attempt more important than ever. Stopping smoking brings multiple benefits to health, some immediate and others that build over time. These include being able to start moving better, being able to breathe more easily and saving money. The average smoker can save £1,875.60 a year by quitting smoking (based on July 2021 price (£11.46), minus July 2011 price (£6.59), which equals £4.86, or 73.6%).
Stoptober is based on research that if a smoker can make it to 28 days smoke-free, they are 5-times more likely to quit for good. The campaign first launched in 2012 when 1 in 5 adults smoked (19.3%) – this has since fallen to 1 in 7 in England (13.9%).
Source: Gov UK, 20 September 2021
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** International
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**
Removing branding from cigarette packs in Canada significantly lowered the appeal of cigarette packs, according to a new study from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project, at the University of Waterloo. Standardised packaging – brown, with no brand imagery, standardised font, and standardised location of text – was required for cigarettes and other tobacco products sold in Canada on February 7, 2020. Canada's plain packaging law was the first country to also standardise the length and width of individual cigarettes.
The ITC evaluation study examined 4600 Canadian smokers at two points in time—in 2018 (before packaging regulations) and in 2020 (after packaging regulations). After standardised packaging, more Canadian smokers reported that they did not like the look of their cigarette pack, increasing from 28.6% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2020. In the two control countries—Australia and the United States—which did not change their packaging regulations during that period, there was no change in smokers' reported pack appeal.
Although standardised packaging in Canada substantially reduced pack appeal and increased support for the policy among adult smokers, there was no increase in the effectiveness of Canada’s 8-year-old pictorial health warning labels. The impact of plain packaging on health warning effectiveness may depend on the design of the warnings and length of time since implementation.
Source: Medical Xpress, 22 September 2021
See also: University of Waterloo. Evaluating the impact of plain packaging among Canadian smokers: Findings from the 2018 and 2020 ITC Smoking and Vaping Surveys. ([link removed]) Tobacco Control. September 2021.
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