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** 11 January 2022
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** UK
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** Fatal fire in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, caused by 'smoking materials' (#1)
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** International
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** Study: First day of trying to quit smoking is especially tough for women (#2)
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** New year stop smoking campaigns launched in Ireland and London (#3)
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** Singapore 'open to the idea' of cohort smoking ban, will study how New Zealand implements ban (#4)
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** UK
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A man has died in a house fire caused by smoking materials in the home. The man in his 60s died in hospital following a fire in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, on Sunday 9 January. Investigators said that the fire was accidental but blamed smoking materials. The fire service has subsequently issued advice to people who smoke at home warning them of its dangers.
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** Source: BBC News, 10 January 2022
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** International
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** A new study by researchers at Columbia University, published in Addictive Behaviours, has found that the first day of a quit attempt is more challenging for women than men in 12 low- and middle-income countries where around 60% of the world’s smokers live. The study also found that larger health warnings on cigarette packs were linked with lower odds of one-day relapse among women.
The research is significant because first-day abstinence is one of the most critical predictors of long-term success in smoking cessation. However, the study did not explore why women may find this period more challenging and little is known about the association. João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia, one of the study'a authors, said that this may be because women tend to report more withdrawal symptoms when quitting smoking than men.
The study also found that women have more difficulty maintaining long-term abstinence than men. In addition, it found that motivations for quitting smoking differ between men and women. Women are more likely to try to quit for weight control or health reasons, particularly related to pregnancy. The authors now say that more research is required into implications for policy.
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** Source: Medical Xpress, 10 January 2022
See also: Addictive Behaviours - The first day of smoking abstinence is more challenging for women than men: A meta-analysis and meta-regression across 12 low- and middle-income countries ([link removed])
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** The Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland is urging smokers to make New Year the time to quit smoking. Paula Campbell, HSE Senior Health Promotion Officer, says that taking the time to plan for quitting smoking in the new year often works best. The calls come amidst recent research showing that 29% of smokers in Ireland are either trying to quit or actively planning to do so.
HSE is reminding smokers that quits are much more effective when using the help of stop smoking advisers. Campbell says, “It’s never too late to give up smoking. We have people in their eighties who decide to quit.” Campbell says that actions like making your home a smokefree zone can help.
Meanwhile, a 37-year-old father of two who gave up smoking in London is leading a campaign to get smokers to quit in London. John Driscoll says he used to smoke 30 to 40 cigarettes a day and said that the sheer cost of smoking was one of the main drivers for his quitting. In the three years since he quit smoking, John has saved around £17,000 just on the cost of cigarettes, with Stop Smoking London estimating that a heavy smoker will spend £5,000 per year on tobacco.
John’s smoking addiction played a key role in his first experience of homelessness and he is now working for homelessness charity Groundswell to encourage people facing homelessness to quit. To all smokers, John advises: "Don't let it beat you, beat it. You've got to beat the habit."
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** Source: Independent.ie, 10 January 2022
See also: My London - 'I started smoking at 13 - 21 years later I quit and saved £17,000 in three years' ([link removed])
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** Senior Minister of State for Health in Singapore, Dr Koh Poh Koon, has told the Singaporean Parliament that the country is open to the idea of a cohort smoking ban similar to that recently introduced in New Zealand banning the sale of cigarettes from next year to anyone born after 2008. Dr Koh called it "an attractive proposal" but warned that the Government would first need to consider a number of issues.
Koh said young people were not generally taking up smoking in Singapore in as great a number as in other countries like New Zealand. Dr Koh also emphasised Singapore’s different stance on vaping, with vapes banned in Singapore but encouraged as a safe harm reduction tool in New Zealand. Koh also emphasised challenges with enforcement but promised to study how the ban in New Zealand fared before making any decisions on applying it in Singapore.
Koh also spoke of some of the tobacco control successes in Singapore, including progressively increasing the minimum legal age for smoking from 19 years to 21 years in January 2021, a move which has contributed to a decline in smoking amongst 18-to-29-year-olds from 9.8% in 2017 to 8.8% in 2020. Overall, smoking rates have reduced from 11.8% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2020 in Singapore.
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Source: Channel News Asia, 11 January 2022
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