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Covid-19: Life expectancy is down but what does this mean?
Life expectancy for men in the UK has fallen for the first time in 40 years, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates. Life expectancy at birth in the three years to 2020 was 79 years for men, falling back to a level last seen in 2012-14. Female life expectancy was virtually unchanged, at just below 83.
Normally, life expectancy in the UK and around the world increases over time - and falls are rare. But the Covid-19 pandemic saw life expectancy fall across most of Europe and the USA in 2020, on a scale not seen since the World War Two, according to research from Oxford University. And experts say further reductions may be seen in the next year or so, before life expectancy starts to recover.
Before Covid struck, life expectancy at birth in the UK was increasing, although at a much slower rate after 2011 compared with the preceding decades. But the new figures show male life expectancy fell by seven weeks between 2015-17 and 2018-20 - the first such drop since current records began, in 1980.
Despite the name, these life expectancy figures, known as "period life expectancy", do not predict an actual lifespan. Instead, they show the average age a newborn would live to if current death rates continued for their whole life.
Once the pandemic is over and "its consequences for future mortality are known, it is possible that life expectancy will return to an improving trend in the future", ONS statistician Pamela Cobb says. And there may even be a bounceback in the first year or so after it ends, due to what demographers call the "survivorship effect".
The data is available for exploration here.
Source: BBC News, 23 September 2021
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Stoptober is back to launch its 10th mass quit attempt on October 1, 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. Over 6 million adults in England still smoke and in the South West, 633,500 adults smoke. Smoking 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 per cent) have been smoking more since the first lockdown began. Key reasons reported are due to being bored in the lockdowns (43 per cent) or the pandemic making them more anxious (42 per cent). More than two fifths (43 per cent) of smokers surveyed believe that the strength of addiction and/or craving is the biggest obstacle to quitting, followed by the stress of everyday life (42 per cent). More than half of smokers want to quit, and three quarters (75 per cent) would never have started smoking if they could go back in time.
Data from the monthly UCL Smoking Toolkit Study indicates a large increase in smoking among the under-35s since the coronavirus pandemic, up from 18 per cent in 2019 to 24 per cent 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.
Russ Moody, health and wellbeing programme lead for Public Health England South West said: “Since the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in 18 to 34 year olds taking up smoking, which is why Stoptober is as vital as ever. Now in its 10th year, it’s supported over two million smokers to give quitting a go.
“Quitting smoking will not only immediately improve your physical health but also your bank balance. Research shows that if you can make it to 28 days smoke free then you are five times more likely to quit for good. It’s been a tough time over the pandemic for smokers. But the numbers trying to quit is up and the success rate is up. Now is the time to do it! Sign up to Stoptober and make it a success.”
Source: InYourArea, 24 September 2021
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More than 100 children in Oxfordshire used an NHS service to try and quit smoking during the coronavirus pandemic, figures reveal. The charity Action on Smoking and Health said the stress of lockdown likely affected young people, as figures show they were the least successful age group to kick the habit across England.
NHS Digital data shows 117 under-18s in Oxfordshire set a date to quit using the NHS Stop Smoking Service between April last year and March. At follow-up meetings held a month later, 109 said they had given up – 93%.
The previous year, 207 smokers under the age of 18 successfully quit, out of 251 who set a target date. Of the 1,700 child smokers looking to kick the habit across England last year, 45% reported quitting. Though up from 41% the previous year, it was still the lowest success rate of any category, and well behind the 61% of people aged 60 and over who achieved the same.
ASH said there is some evidence that the pandemic has changed smokers' relationship to tobacco.
Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of the charity, added: "Recent research highlighted that younger people appear to have been taking up or going back to smoking in larger numbers.
"It appears likely that for younger people the stress of lockdown has led to more smoking while for older smokers health fears have prompted more quitting. Overall, people have been quitting with greater success in the pandemic."
Source: This is Oxfordshire, 24 September 2021
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The government has acknowledged that integrated care systems (ICSs) are unlikely to have fully established the partnership boards (ICPs) designed to drive joint working between the NHS and local government until at least five months after ICSs become statutory bodies.
A document, published by the Department of Health and Social Care earlier this month acknowledged that ICPs cannot be formally convened until the ICSs integrated care board has been established, meaning some areas will only have interim ICP arrangements by next April.
ICSs are due to become statutory in April 2022 and will consist of an ICP and ICB. The ICB will be the statutory component of an ICS with commissioning powers for healthcare services in the area, while the ICP will be made up of organisations within an ICS and run jointly by local authorities. NHS England has begun recruitment for ICB chairs and chief executives.
In a statement, the Local Government Association said: “This timetable is clear that NHS and LAs should be actively working to establish their ICPs. The document is very clear that the ICP is a joint and equal NHS and LA responsibility, which we strongly support.”
Louise Patten, ICS network director for NHS Confederation, said: “Having an interim ICP by April means this extremely important part of the ICS structure is established at the very beginning of the system journey, alongside the ICB, so that working relationships are established, together, from day one.
“April 2022 is just the start of the ICS journey and there will be much more development still to come.”
Source: Health Service Journal, 23 September 2021
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Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss the September 2021 update of their Cochrane living review of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation, their response to a paper by Pisinger et al 2020 and emerging evidence in e-cigarette research.
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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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