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The Lancet publishes an editorial piece on how the successful advocacy of ASH provides a model for governments and practitioners globally, with much progress still to be made in tobacco control.
The Lancet says that tobacco control is working, but slowly. A WHO report released in November counted 1.3bn tobacco users globally in 2020 versus 1.32bn in 2015. We know that 60 countries are now on track, versus 32 in 2019, to achieve the voluntary global target of 30% reduction in tobacco use between 2010 and 2025. However, too few countries have adopted the policies in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and MPOWER measures. The Lancet says that South-East Asia in particular should do more, as 29% of the continental population use tobacco.
In doing more, The Lancet says that governments and practitioners worldwide can learn from the advocacy work of ASH. When ASH was established by the Royal College of Physicians in 1971, two-thirds of men and four in ten women in the UK smoked. In 2021, just one in six people were smokers. The UK has achieved this through a comprehensive package of tobacco control policies.
It describes what it calls the ASH ''playbook’’ for achieving these changes. First is to communicate the evidence, using links with the media to continually report the harms of smoking. Second is to build alliances. Such alliances were evident last week when 600 health leaders wrote to the UK Government asking it to publish its overdue tobacco control plan and introduce important tobacco-related changes to the Health and Care Bill. Third is to actively oppose industry. ASH is currently pushing for a polluter-pays levy on tobacco manufacturers to help pay the cost of tobacco control.
The Lancet concludes that nations could do worse than follow ASH's lead to reduce smoking rates.
Source: The Lancet, 26 November 2021
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Three men have been jailed for involvement in an international gang importing and selling illegal cigarettes worth more than £1.5m in unpaid duty. The three men, two from Nottingham and North London, were sentenced at Southward Crown Court on Thursday 25 November. Two of them were sentenced to 30 months in prison for fraudulent evasion whilst the third man was sentenced to 45 months for two counts of fraudulent evasion of duty and one count of concealing criminal property.
An investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had revealed that the men had planned the delivery and sale of the illicit cigarettes. On November 27 2016 HMRC officers conducted a search of a self-storage unit in Sherwood, Nottingham, after witnessing a lorry being unloaded there the night before. When they searched the unit they uncovered 4,827,400 illicit cigarettes. A van loaded with a 601,600 more illicit cigarettes was also found nearby, driven by one of the men.
During a separate search of a property linked to the men in Birmingham, officers found 200,000 illegal cigarettes and carrier bags with £28,000 in cash, hidden in a hedge in the back garden. HMRC are still searching for a fourth man, who is wanted in connection with the smuggling plot.
Source: Nottingham Post, 25 November 2021
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The HSJ has been shown NHS England planning scenarios which consider the possibility that the transfer from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to integrated care systems (ICSs) is delayed by up to six months. The document sets out four scenarios and indicates that any decision to delay transfer by either three or six months would be made by 15 January. It is unclear what option NHSE prefers but currently officials are still asking local managers to prepare for an April handover.
However, the HSJ says that ICS and commissioning leaders now believe there is a high chance of delay. The Health and Care Bill has only just entered the House of Lords as it passes through parliament and must be reconsidered in the Commons if the Lords amend it. There is not a lot of time to complete the governance, legal, and staffing changes for the bill compared to past bills.
As such, the four scenarios set out dates for the transfer of 1 April 2022, on time, a delay of up to one month, a delay of up to three months, and a delay of up to six months. Several ICS leaders have told HSJ that the Bill’s tight timetable means going live in October would be more sensible. However, another leader said that going live part way through the financial year could also fail and that a delay of a year risked the ICS policy losing momentum and would inconvenience CCG staff.
Source: HSJ, 26 November 2021
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NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has said that she wants integrated care systems (ICSs) to “devolve power, authority, [and] decision making as locally as possible’’. Pritchard made the remarks yesterday (25 November) at a conference held by the Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
Pritchard said that for ICSs “working in partnership” meant not just tackling social care but also addressing health inequalities, focusing on “leisure planning, education, housing, to achieve the sort of step change we want to see in preventing ill health and tackling health inequalities.” Pritchard said that health prevention was critical to addressing health inequalities and encouraged more use of data to find people who would benefit from prevention or proactive care.
Pritchard also called for council representatives to maximise their seats on ICS tables. Pritchard said: “You have a seat at those ICS tables, you have the means, the expertise and the reach into your local communities to be able to play a full part in their success. And my ask to all of you is please do use that, please do go all in on that partnership opportunity. And please do continue to work with us on solutions where you think things could be working better.”
Source: LGC, 25 November 2021
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Leading New Zealand public health agency the National Tobacco Control Advocacy Service for Hāpai Te Hauora has said that the forthcoming ban on smoking in cars carrying anyone under the age of 18 will help to reinforce the message that smoking is not a normal part of everyday life.
Jasmine Graham, of the National Tobacco Control Advocacy Service for Hāpai Te Hauora, said: "Twenty years ago, having a cigarette or breathing in the toxins from someone else’s cigarette was part and parcel of a night at the pub. Twenty years before that, it was part and parcel of going to work or sitting at the back of the bus. Nowadays, that sounds ridiculous. But letting people smoke in a confined space around children is equally ridiculous, and it’s high time we recognised that."
Source: Scoop, 26 November 2021
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A man in New South Wales has become the first person to be charged under the state’s new vape laws implemented at the start of October 2021 which require a doctor to provide a prescription for the purchase of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. The man, 28, was found with 1230 banned vapes on his person with a potential ‘street value’ of $55,000 (£29,492) or $44 (£23.59) per vape.
The new law makes any nicotine not administered through tobacco cigarettes, including vapes and quitting aids like patches and gums, a schedule four prescription medicine, which requires sign-off by a doctor for consumption. Nicotine-containing vapes can still be bought by prescription holders at pharmacies or personally imported from overseas. The illegal supply of liquid nicotine now carries a maximum penalty of $1650 (£885) or six months in prison, or both.
Source: Mail on Sunday, 26 November 2021
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PQ1: Smoking
Asked by Alexander Stafford, Rother Valley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care how many of the 94 key milestones of the Tobacco Control Delivery Plan 2017-22 with delivery dates by 31 December 2021 have been met.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
Progress on the current Tobacco Control Delivery Plan was reviewed in June 2021. This review found that there are 82 key milestones with a delivery date by 31 December 2021. Of these, 54 were already complete with the rest making progress although COVID-19 has affected delivery in some cases.
PQ2: Smoking
Asked by Alexander Stafford, Rother Valley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the 20 key milestones of the Tobacco Control Delivery Plan 2017-22 due for delivery annually will have been delivered in two or more succeeding years by 31 December 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
Progress on the current Tobacco Control Delivery Plan was reviewed in June 2021. There are 26 milestones with a delivery date which states that delivery should be completed annually. Of these deliverables, the review found that all had been delivered in two or more successive years.
PQ3: Tobacco: Regulation
Asked by Alexander Stafford, Rother Valley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities' investigation into possible breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products, whether the testing of menthol cigarettes has been carried out; whether that investigation is on track for completion by the end of this year; and when he expects to announce the outcome of the investigation.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities' testing of selected tobacco products, as part of the Department's investigation of possible breaches of the prohibition of menthol cigarettes, is ongoing. It is expected to continue into early 2022.
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On Tuesday 23 November NHS Digital released new smoking at time of delivery (SATOD) data. This routine quarterly dataset measures progress against one of the headline ambitions in the Tobacco Control Plan for England to reduce maternal smoking rates. It found that:
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It is unlikely that the Government's ambition for SATOD levels of 6% by 2022 will be achieved nationally.
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9.1% of pregnant women were known to be smokers at the time of delivery during Quarter 1 of 2021-2022, a slight increase from 8.9% during Quarter 4 of 2020-2021 but lower than any other previous quarter.
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There continues to be large geographical variation. In quarter 1 of 2021-22, the lowest proportions of women known to be smokers at time of delivery were in NHS North West London CCG, NHS Herts Valleys CCG, and NHS Trafford CCG. Those with the highest were NHS Blackpool CCG, NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG, and NHS Hull CCG.
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15 out of 104 submitting CCGs met the national ambition of 6% or less.
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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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