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The Government’s new public health body, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), has launched today (1st October). OHID will reportedly work to tackle “unacceptable” health inequalities across the country and combat the top preventable risk factors for poor health, including obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption. It comes as Public Health England (PHE) is replaced, with the OHID taking on responsibility for health improvement and the new UK Health Security Agency focusing on health protection.
The Government said the OHID would be “the driving force” to “level up” the nation’s health, adding that men in the most deprived areas are expected to die nearly 10 years younger – seven for women – than those in affluent areas. The new body aims to prevent illness before it develops and save significant money and resource, the Department for Health and Social Care said.
Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, will provide professional leadership to the OHID. He said: “Reducing health inequalities and keeping people in better health for longer is in everyone’s interest – it is good for the individual, families, society, the economy and NHS. That’s why OHID will work collaboratively across the national, regional and local levels as well as with the NHS, academia, the third sector, scientists, researchers and industry.”
Source: Evening Standard, 1 October 2021
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A new report from Public Health England (PHE) has estimated the cost of gambling harm to society in England to be £1.27 billion in 2019/20. The huge cost encompasses the burden of debt on problem gamblers and the effect on relationships and family breakdown. It covers the negative impact of gambling on jobs, business efficiency, and health harms that drive up costs for the NHS. And it includes costs to the police of the gambling-related crime.
The report found gambling cost England £961 million in terms of mental and physical health last year. Suicide was found to be the biggest single expense. Heavy drinkers, men, people with mental health issues, and those living in the North of England were also identified as being at greater risk of becoming problem gamblers. PHE concluded there was a clear link between gambling and mental health issues such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol dependence.
PHE estimated 28,312 people in England have an alcohol dependence associated with gambling. Of these, 3,646 are receiving treatment at a cost to the government of £4.7million. PHE also estimates that 712 people received community drug treatment for gambling-related illicit substance abuse in 2019/20, costing£2 million. A similar number of people, 775, are believed to be using drugs in this way but are not being treated.
The PHE report also counted other non-health related costs of gambling, such as its role in homelessness and crime. The cost of gambling contributing to people becoming homeless was estimated to be £62.8 million. This accounted for the cost of registering homeless people who had been gambling harmfully before they became homeless and providing them with temporary accommodation.
Newly appointed mental health minister Gillian Keegan insisted the government was taking action on gambling harms. She said: “We are working to protect vulnerable people from the damaging impacts gambling can have, including through specialist NHS gambling addiction clinics and investing at least an extra £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand mental health services.”
Source: Daily Mail, 30 September 2021
See also: PHE - Gambling-related harms: evidence review
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The NHS and social care services in England will need more than 1.1 million extra staff over the next decade to keep up with growing demand, research suggests. The huge expansion in both workforces would mean those in need get the care they require and ensure that standards of health treatment do not drop.
According to the Health Foundation, expanding the NHS workforce to the required levels will cost between £63 billion and £72 billion by 2030-31. It is estimated that providing social care with the workers it needs will cost between £8.9 billion and £14.4 billion. The extra personnel in both sectors will be needed because of the ageing population, a rise in people with long-term illnesses and the backlog of healthcare caused by the Covid pandemic, it says.
It also warns the government that although it is already putting huge sums into the NHS, it will have to go even further than the extra investment in health and social care that will follow the 1.25% rise in national insurance starting next April, which will lead to “a major balancing act of priorities”. Without a commitment to investing the sums it suggests, healthcare could fall “well short of the standards available in western Europe”, the thinktank adds.
Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts in England, said: “The gaping chasm between service demand and workforce supply is a huge concern. It must be addressed as a matter of urgency if we are to protect our staff from burnout alongside meeting rising demand pressures and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Persistent staff shortages have normalised excessive workloads and stress at work across the NHS, which has led to the loss of far too many of our highly valued staff.”
Source: The Guardian, 1 October 2021
See also: The Health Foundation - Health and social care funding projections 2021
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According to a new national survey, more than 2 million US school students use vape products, with Puff Bar, Vuse and Juul among the most popular products.
The data, published yesterday (30 September) in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, showed the use of the potentially addictive nicotine devices may have declined from 3.6 million students in 2020. However, the study authors cautioned that estimates based on this year’s survey mainly conducted online could not be compared to results from surveys done in previous years collected from classrooms.
The survey data showed that about 85% of users used flavoured e-cigarettes, with fruit, candy, desserts, or other sweets being the most popular. Disposables were the most frequently used device, followed by prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges and tanks.
The use of e-cigarettes among children and teens has been a contentious public health concern in the US. Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delayed its decision on whether Juul and other major manufacturers can sell their products in the United States as it decides whether the products provide a net benefit to public health.
Source: Reuters, 30 September 2021
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PQ1: Electronic Cigarettes: Children
Asked by Jim Shannon, Strangford
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on reports of the (a) prevalence of vape use by children and (b) potential health effects of that use including prolonged nose bleeds, chest pains and dizzy spells.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
No recent discussions have taken place.
However, the Department, working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, will continue to carefully monitor e-cigarette use amongst children and any potential health effects.
Source: Hansard, 29 September 2021
PQ2: Smoking
Asked by Mark Jenkinson, Workington
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2021 to Question 31543, on Tobacco, whether statistics from the ONS bulletin, entitled Adults smoking habits in the UK, will be incorporated into the Tobacco Control Plan for England following the delay in publication of that bulletin until November 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Tobacco Control Plan will utilise data from the Office for National Statistics' bulletin when it is published later this year.
Source: Hansard, 29 September 2021
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ASH and the Mental Health and Smoking Partnership hosted a webinar yesterday (30th September) to learn more about the overarching objectives of the smoking and mental health components of the NHS Long Term Plan, as well as the roles and expectations of different partners in the system, and how the LTP will be implemented and supported regionally and nationally.
The webinar has been recorded and is now available for viewing.
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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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