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Writing in the Independent, Professor Caitlin Notley, a senior lecturer in mental health at the University of East Anglia, and Konstantinos Farsalinos, a research associate at the University of West Attica, Greece, respond to a recent paper published in Nature, which claims that people who vape experience DNA changes similar to those seen in smokers – although much less pronounced.
They argue that studies like this “do not show the full picture” and note that the evidence for the study was based on a small, unrepresentative sample and “does not provide real-world evidence of vaping-associated ill health.” Notley and Farasalinos highlight one of the findings showing that the presence of damaged genes was 7.4 times higher among smokers than vapers confirming that “vaping is not completely risk-free but is much less risky than smoking tobacco.” They observe that analysing changes in DNA is not currently an effective way to predict cancer risk.
Notley and Farasalinos state that emerging studies have provided evidence that switching from smoking to e-cigarettes can benefit cardiovascular and respiratory health. Other studies show that exposure to toxins is far lower in vapers who used to smoke than current smokers. They argue that it is important for researchers to look at “all the evidence, which supports the harm reduction role of e-cigarettes as a smoking substitute,” as studies that do not examine direct clinical effects are easily interpreted and reported as evidence of health damage by the media.
They conclude by saying that “it is irresponsible to report sensationalist headlines based on complex studies that in reality do not show any real-world harm, particularly compared with the immense harm of tobacco smoking.”
Source: Independent, 14 December 2021
Editorial Note: Konstantin Farsalinos has co-authored papers with the NOSMOKE institute, which receives funding from the Philip Morris International-funded Foundation for a Smoke Free World. For more info see Tobacco Tactics page.
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Private Eye medical correspondent ‘MD’ says that the Government should have planned and invested in health and social care staffing long before COVID-19 exacerbated shortcomings.
MD says that the UK is paying a “high price” for not planning for or investing in the health and social care staff levels needed to treat an ageing population. A health and care service, however paid for and provided, cannot deliver a decent level of timely care to its citizens without enough trained, well-rested, supported staff. MD adds that thousands of people with non-Covid diseases such as cancer have died and will die because the Government has committed to an “all hands to the Covid pump” plan to roll out booster jabs without adequate staff levels to cover other illnesses.
MD adds that whilst it is understandable that people are angry with GPs, receptionists, hospital staff, and paramedics for lack of access to care, taking out anger on frontline staff is counterproductive. MD says that “you get the health and care services you pay for over the decades”. He adds that “short-term panic funding” will not be enough. People must also take more personal responsibility for their health, including by seeking help to quit smoking, noting that smoking has killed many more people than COVID-19 and puts huge strain on health services.
Source: Private Eye [Print Version], 10-17 December 2021
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New data released at the weekend (11 and 12 December) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that smoking rates have reached an all-time low in Australia with just one in ten adults smoking daily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data found that 10.7% of adults in Australia, or 2.1m people, smoke daily, a 3.1% reduction on the 13.8% in 2018.
While the figures are promising, Cancer Council Australia warns that it is too early to tell if they reflect a long-term shift. “We await with great interest what the trends look like as Australia comes out of COVID-19,” said Cancer Council Public Health Committee Chair Anita Dessaix. Dessaix said that the Cancer Council supports the Government’s target to reduce the adult smoking rate to 5% by 2040. “This includes protecting younger generations from smoking uptake,” she said.
The ABS also drew links between education levels, socio-economic status, and smoking, finding that those living in lower-socio-economic areas were three times as likely to smoke daily. About 18.5% of daily smokers’ highest education level was year 10 or lower and unemployed Australians accounted for more than one fifth of daily smokers at about 22%. The results also showed that Australian-born residents were about 5% more likely than those born overseas to smoke daily.
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The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture (FMIC) and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) in Nigeria have urged greater compliance with national laws banning the glamorization of smoking in films and entertainment. FMIC and NFVCB spoke at a Stakeholder Roundtable event on Friday 10 December in Lagos on the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019 as related to smoking in movies and entertainment.
The event brought together regulators and stakeholders in the movies and entertainment sector including producers, scriptwriters, distributors, and exhibitors as well as veteran and current actors and actresses, and public health experts. The meeting noted the evidence linking smoking in the movies and entertainment sector to more young people embracing smoking. It also noted how the tobacco industry often deliberately targets entertainment stakeholders though financial inducement, misinformation, and other means to encourage the glamorisation of smoking.
Stakeholders also noted that existing legislation does not sufficiently address the growing use of shisha and alternative products like e-cigarettes onscreen. The event concluded with the NFVCB promising to increase awareness and education among stakeholders in the entertainment and movies sectors that national laws must be complied with. The NFVCB also promised to ensure that its film classifications were appropriate, updated and enforced in light of depictions of smoking.
Source: The Sun Nigeria, 15 December 2021
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PQ1: Smoking: Health Hazards
Asked by Martyn Day, Linlithgow and East Falkirk
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2021 to Question 72542, if his Department will make an assessment of the relative risks of alternatives to smoking such as e-cigarettes and snus.
Answered by By Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister
Although they are not risk free, we do promote the role that e-cigarettes can play in smoking cessation, whilst managing the risks to non-smokers and young people.
Oral tobacco, including snus, is banned in the United Kingdom under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. There is evidence that oral tobacco products can contain carcinogenic substances which increases the risk of adverse health effects. Whilst the risks of adverse health outcomes caused by snus are far lower than smoking, it remains the Government's policy to help people to quit all forms of tobacco use.
Source: Hansard, 15 December
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