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Ben Spencer and Tom Calver, at The Times, discuss the merits of the UK’s stance on e-cigarettes.
Spencer and Calver note that Britain’s approach to e-cigarettes differs from that of much of the rest of the world. Whilst many other countries ban or restrict the sale of e-cigarettes, on Friday last week (29 October) Britain became the first country to allow e-cigarettes to be prescribed as a medicine. E-cigarettes are certainly very popular in Britain, with around 3.6 million people, or 7.1% of adults, now using vapes, and 3,444 vape shops existing across Britain, versus just 185 in 2011.
Critics of e-cigarettes worry about their potential health harm, arguing that more research is required. Some worry that e-cigarettes may be used as a “lifestyle tool” rather than a quitting aid and fear that many users have never smoked tobacco or are “dual users” of cigarettes and vapes. There are concerns that e-cigarettes are being used by tobacco companies in what is called “healthwashing”, meaning the way that tobacco firms use vapes to appear interested in health.
Robert West, professor of health psychology at University College London, says that such concerns are overblown. West published a study in 2019 which found that e-cigarettes are nearly twice as effective as nicotine gum or patches at helping people to quit smoking and six times more effective than trying to quit alone. More than 50,000 people in the UK are estimated to have stopped smoking using the devices. West thinks that opposition to e-cigarettes stems from historical opposition to the tobacco industry, which has “spilled over into a more general ethical view about anything which isn’t the pure way of stopping smoking, which is just do it yourself and pull your socks up and be a hero.”
Source: The Times, 31 October 2021
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One of Britain’s leading industry-funded alcohol charities, Drinkaware, has been criticised after the relaunch of its popular lifestyle app wiped the drinking history of its users along with red-flag warnings of harmful consumption. Users have reported that more than four years of drinking consumption logged on the app has disappeared following its relaunch on 30 August, along with the estimated cost of heavy drinking sessions. The app has since had more than 100 one-star reviews on the Apple store.
Drinkaware said that it had received more than 540 complaints from users after the relaunch. It admitted “sensitive” data did disappear but said it had been working to restore the information. The charity said: “No user data was permanently wiped but some users experienced a delay in their data being moved over due to the volume of migrations taking place during the start of the soft launch. Not all users were affected and the majority of migrations went smoothly.”
Other users said that they were abandoning the app because it no longer provided a monthly comparison of alcohol intake or carried warnings on previous excessive consumption of more than 50 units a week. The charity said the cost of drinking was removed because it was not a popular feature with users. “Where is the motivation to track week after week, month after month, year after year, when you only show a two-week comparison?”, one user said.
Drinkaware was set up in 2004 by the Portman Group, a drinks industry organisation. It became a separate charity in January 2007 funded by donations from the drinks industry. In 2020, Drinkaware received voluntary donations of £5.5m from alcohol producers, retailers, and sports bodies. The charity said it had restored data to those who had requested it and denied that its funders were involved in any changes to the app.
Source: Guardian, 31 October 2021
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A role description for the new chair of NHS England has described the ideal candidate as a ‘critical friend’ to the Government who will hold NHS England to account and nurture links with the pharmaceutical industry. The description also describes a need to ensure that “NHS England’s strategic direction is aligned to wider government and health and social care policy”.
NHS England previously announced that the incumbent, Lord David Prior, would step down early in the new year, after serving about three years and three months of a four-year term. Among other requirements, his successor will need to “maintain strong business relationships with key private sector stakeholders who provide valuable NHS services, particularly pharmaceutical companies and other life sciences businesses who are providing the covid vaccines”.
The new role is advertised at a £63,000 salary for two to three days per week, the same as when Lord Prior was appointed. The person specification said: “Boards benefit from fresh perspectives, and we are always keen to encourage candidates with private sector experience to consider applying for our roles.” The appointment will be made by ministers, but the advisory panel for the appointment includes Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, Samantha Jones, the prime minister’s expert advisor on NHS transformation and social care, and Ron Kalifa, a non-executive director of the Bank of England court of directors.
NHSE is due to formally merge with NHS Improvement in April, under the Health and Care Bill currently before Parliament, which will also increase the health and social care secretary’s powers of direction over NHSE, and ability to set the direction for the NHS.
Source: HSJ, 1 November 2021
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A study of more than 19,000 secondary students in New Zealand has found that more than one quarter of teenagers are regularly vaping. The study found a notable increase in teenagers vaping compared to two years earlier. It has led to calls for law changes including a ban on vape sales within 1 kilometre of schools and increasing the age of sale for e-cigarettes from 18 to 21.
The survey, led by Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand (ARFNZ), found that 26% of teens surveyed had vaped in the past week and 15% had smoked cigarettes. Nearly 20% were vaping daily or more, many with high-nicotine doses, whilst more than half were vaping more often and with higher nicotine doses than a year earlier. A similar 2019 survey found that 38% of secondary school students had tried vaping with only 6% vaping weekly or more often. The latest survey covered 283 secondary schools, done in term three of 2021 with 19,021 students.
ARFNZ chief executive Letitia Harding said: “It’s really worrying how easily young people are accessing vapes, with the majority buying their vapes at dairies [small general stores]. Given that sale to under-18s is prohibited, and the vast majority of students surveyed are under 18, this is really concerning.” ARFNZ, backed by the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand, is calling on the Government to limit the amount of nicotine allowed in vapes and to ban storefront advertisements and product displays, alongside the increase in the age of sale for e-cigarettes and ban on the sale of vape products within 1km of schools.
Source: Stuff, 1 November 2021
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Tobacco experts in India have appealed to the Government to strengthen tobacco control laws to prevent young people in India from taking up tobacco. The chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and representatives from retailers’ associations have urged the Government to increase the legal age of sale for tobacco products to 21, to impose a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, and to ban the sale of single sticks of cigarettes.
Priyank Kanongoo, chairman of the NCPCR, said: “It is scientifically established that if a person is kept away from tobacco till the age of 21 and above, there is a very high probability that they will remain tobacco-free for the rest of their life.” Kanongoo noted that 14 countries have already increased the minimum age of sale to 21 (Ethiopia, Guam, Honduras, Japan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, and the US) and at least 86 have banned the sale of single stick cigarettes to control accessibility and affordability to youth.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, released recently by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, India has the second largest number (268 million) of tobacco users in the world, with1.3 million people dying every year from tobacco-related diseases. Nearly 27% of all cancers in India are attributable to tobacco. The direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use amount to nearly 1.8% of India’s GDP. Nearly one-fifth of students aged 13-15 are using tobacco products in India whilst a nationwide survey of students revealed that 38% of cigarettes, 47% of single cigarettes, and 52% of smokeless tobacco users started before their tenth birthday.
Source: The Hindu, 1 November 2021
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PQ1: Smoking: Norway
Asked by Martyn Day, Linlithgow and East Falkirk
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the causes of the fall in smoking among young women in Norway since the year 2000 from 30% to 1%.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Department continues to monitor developments in tobacco use across the world. Whilst rates of smoking have decreased amongst young women in Norway, overall levels of tobacco use have remained stable. Evidence shows that the consumption of any tobacco product is harmful. We will continue to promote the use of nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.
Source: Hansard, 27 October 2021
PQ2: Smoking: Norway
Asked by Dame Margaret Hodge, Barking
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of how Norway has halved its rate of smoking from 2 per cent to 1 per cent in 2020 among 18-24 year olds; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Department continues to monitor developments in tobacco use across the world. Whilst smoking rates have decreased amongst those aged 16 to 24 years old in Norway, overall levels of tobacco use have remained stable. Evidence shows that the consumption of any tobacco product is harmful. We continue to promote the use of nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.
Source: Hansard, 28 October 2021
PQ3: Smoking and E-Cigarettes
Asked by Margaret Hodge, Barking
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to a report by ASH entitled Use of e-cigarettes, vapes, among adults in Great Britain, published in June 2021, what steps his Department is taking to help reach the target of making England smoke-free by 2030 given that 51% of remaining smokers have stopped using e-cigarettes.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will continue to provide information, advice and support related to the benefits of using e-cigarettes as a tool for smoking cessation. We will continue to communicate this through local stop smoking services and campaigns. The Department is considering a range of innovative policy and regulatory changes to achieve our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030. This will be set out in our new Tobacco Control Plan, which we will publish in due course.
Source: Hansard, 28 October 2021
Editorial Note: The publication referred to by Margaret Hodge MP in PQ3, which can be accessed here, shows that in 2021 51% of smokers had tried but not continued to use e-cigarettes.
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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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