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** 10 January 2022
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** UK
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** Opinion: The NHS was left ill-prepared for Covid (#1)
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** NHS Food Scanner app will use barcodes to suggest healthier eating choices (#2)
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** Northern Ireland: Give up smoking once and for all, says Health Minister (#3)
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** International
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** US Study suggests potential link between e-cigarette use and visual impairment (#4)
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** Philippines: 9 out of 10 smokers back vape bill – survey reveals (#5)
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** UK
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** Writing in the Financial Times, Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, discusses the challenges facing the NHS at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and argues that the public inquiry into the pandemic will reveal fundamental failings in staffing levels and capacity that the government must address.

In light of the UK reaching 150,00 deaths from COVID-19, Taylor highlights fundamental failings that meant the UK entered the pandemic “with 100,000 staff vacancies in the NHS, rundown buildings, a lack of personal protective equipment and limited diagnostic testing capacity compared with other countries”. These challenges are compounded by rapidly expanding demand for emergency treatment, a massive backlog for surgeries like as hip and knee replacements, staff absences due to covid and other illnesses, and the need to complete the vaccine booster programme quickly.

Taylor points out that despite staff dedication, many NHS staff are exhausted after two years of wrestling with covid and its consequences. He welcomes the deployment of military personnel to support the health service. However, Taylor notes that “we must ensure health and care staff have access to tests, consider short-term use of clinical students in frontline duties and try to ensure patients who don’t need to be in hospital can be rapidly discharged.”

Taylor concludes by saying: “We all hope that Omicron marks ‘the end of the beginning’ of this pandemic and that we can find a way of living with covid, but over the next few weeks, the NHS will be under intense pressure. It will need support, but this must be sustained.”

Source: Financial Times, 8 January 2022
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** An updated government app will use barcodes to encourage families to switch to healthier food as part of efforts to tackle Britain’s child obesity crisis. The new feature, announced today (10 January) as part of the Better Health campaign, will scan selected shopping items and suggest alternatives with less saturated fat, sugar or salt. Families using the NHS Food Scanner app will also be shown a “Good Choice” badge for items that could help improve their diet, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

It follows a record rise in obesity among 10- to 11-year-olds, with surveys suggesting that parents have been giving more unhealthy snacks to their children since the start of the pandemic. The latest data suggests one in four children of reception school age are overweight or obese, and this rises to four in 10 in Year 6, according to the DHSC.

Public health minister, Maggie Throup, said that the “pressure” faced by families throughout the pandemic meant dietary habits had “drastically changed” as a result. She added: “The new year is a good time for making resolutions, not just for ourselves, but for our families. Finding ways to improve their health is one of the best resolutions any of us could make.”

Alison Tedstone, the chief nutritionist at the DHSC, said advertisements promoting unhealthy food to children were contributing to the problem. Tedstone said: “It’s so important that children reduce the amount of sugary, fatty and salty foods they eat to help them stay healthy and reduce the risk of health problems such as diabetes and tooth decay.”

Source: The Guardian, 10 January 2022
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** Ahead of a new law aimed at protecting children from the harm caused by inhaling second-hand smoke, Health Minister Robin Swann urges people “to give up smoking once and for all.”

From February 1, it will be an offence to smoke in enclosed private vehicles where children are present with more than one person in the car. If children are present, it will also be an offence for a driver to fail to prevent others from smoking in his vehicle. In addition, it will also be an offence to sell nicotine inhaling products, including e-cigarettes to children, and the purchase of them on behalf of children, can lead to significant penalties and, for repeated offences, retailers can be banned from selling such products for up to three years.

A series of TV, radio, outdoor and digital advertising will launch on January 10, highlighting the new law. The new law is widely supported by the public, charities and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Source: Newsletter, 7 January 2022
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** International
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A new study suggests toxins in e-cigarettes could cause damage to the user’s eyesight. Researchers from the University of California found that current vapers were 34% more likely to suffer from visual impairments than those who had never tried it, while former users were 14% more likely.

The study assessed 1,173,646 adults aged between 18 and 50 between 2016 and 2018. They were asked in a questionnaire if they smoked or vaped and if they suffered from visual impairment. The researchers said the results could be evidence that solvents in vaping fluids damage the tear duct and cause the body “oxidative stress”, which has been linked to a deterioration of eyesight.

Professor Simon Capewell, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Liverpool and not associated with the new study, cautioned that the study does not prove a causal link between vaping and harm to vision.

E-cigarettes have been promoted in the UK as being significantly safer than cigarettes. Cigarette smokers have gone from being almost half the total adult population in Britain in the mid-1970s to only 15 per cent now. Each year up to 70,000 quitters do so with the help of e-cigarettes, Cancer Research UK said.

Source: The Times 10 January 2022

See also: American Journal of Opthamology - Association Between E-Cigarette Use and Visual Impairment in the United States ([link removed](21)00473-6/fulltext)
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** A consumer survey showed that nine out of 10 smokers support the enactment of the proposed Vape bill that will provide less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes. They believe that the government should enact policies to encourage adult smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes while also ensuring minors do not use these products.

The Senate and House of Representatives approved in 2021 their respective versions of the measure. Once signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Vaporized Nicotine Products Bill will regulate e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs) and other vaporized nicotine products while ensuring that they contribute to government revenues.

The bill is intended to help adult smokers quit cigarettes. It ensures that minors will not have access to the vape products, as it bans the sale to and use by children and the sale, advertising, and promotion of vape products within 100 meters of the school perimeter and playground.

Source: Manila Times, 10 January 2022
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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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