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The NHS has approved a new treatment for lung cancer. Lung cancer is one of the most common but most serious cancers in the UK. Around 47,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year. The new drug is called atezolizumab, and it is a form of immunotherapy that will be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). More than 850 patients in the UK will be eligible for the drug in the first year, rising to 1,000 in the third year.
The NHS says that trials have shown that atezolizumab can “significantly reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 34% in people with early-stage NSCLC.” Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: “By making atezolizumab available at the earliest opportunity, NHS patients now have a very exciting new treatment which has the potential to dramatically reduce their risk of cancer relapse.”
When it comes to reducing your risk of developing lung cancer, several actions can be taken, and the main one is to not smoke. Although passive smoking (breathing in someone’s cigarette smoke) can cause lung cancer, active smoking poses the greatest overall risk with the habit responsible for more than 70% of cases.
Source: Express, 31 January 2022
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Trusts were told last night to cease plans for dismissing unvaccinated staff, as the government announced it would consult on dropping its mandatory covid vaccine policy.
Previous guidance had required that, after 3 February – the deadline to have a first vaccination to have two vaccines by the 1 April legal cut-off – trusts begin formal meetings and issue dismissal warnings to unvaccinated patient-facing staff. Huge efforts have been put into encouraging staff to be vaccinated and to preparing for the next steps in recent weeks. However, tens of thousands across England are still believed to have had no vaccine, or to have an “unknown” vaccine status.
Last night’s brief NHSE letter gave no further guidance on whether trusts should continue to press staff to be vaccinated by that date or continue to have discussions about redeployment.
Source: HSJ, 1 February 2022
See also: Update: Vaccination as a condition of deployment (VCOD) for all healthcare workers
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A new law making it illegal to smoke in a car with children has come into force in Northern Ireland, bringing the law in line with the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It is already illegal to smoke on public transport or smoke in work vehicles used by more than one person. Another new law, banning the sale of e-cigarettes and other nicotine inhaling products to anyone under 18, has also come into force.
Fines of up to £2,500 will be imposed by the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) and environmental health officers. The PSNI has said police will take an educational, advisory and non-confrontational approach when enforcing the new legislation until the end of February 2022. Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said this would “see people initially given warnings rather than being issued with fines, which would give time for public awareness of the offences to build.”
A cancer charity has welcomed the new laws as a “significant move to a tobacco-free Northern Ireland.” Naomi Thompson, from Cancer Focus NI, said the laws would “protect children’s health” and reduce the perception for children that smoking is normal behaviour. We know that children who regularly see adults smoke are more likely to try smoking,” she added.
A ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children has been in force in England and Wales since October 2015. In Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, a ban took effect in 2016.
Source: BBC News, 1 February 2022
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A former smoker has told how he saved money after quitting smoking three years ago. He said he used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day – the equivalent of two packs, and depending on the brand, that meant around £9.73 to just over £13.60 per pack.
He had been a smoker for nearly 20 years when he reached the point of wanting to quit. He explained that after surviving homelessness, giving up the cigarettes was the next logical step towards turning his life around. He also wanted to save money and be around for his two sons for longer, which was the biggest benefit of quitting. He added that in 2018, he decided to quit smoking, along with a couple of colleagues from work. A few of them wanted to stop smoking, and so with the support of his colleagues, he switched to vaping.
Stopping smoking saves him, on average, £110 a week, and it has been over three years, so that is over £17,000. He stated: “I have tried to quit three times in total. The first time when I was 21 was just a failure. The second time when I was in my mid-twenties, was an improvement – I lasted eight months. But the third time – with the support of other people in the same situation as me and with vaping – I have managed not just to quit tobacco but save thousands of pounds and kick the nicotine addiction for good.”
Source: Metro, 31 January 2022
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Sir Crispin Tickell, who has died of pneumonia aged 91, was a diplomat, political adviser, and academic who played a key role in forming British government policy on the environment.
He advised four prime ministers, had formidable intellect, and was involved in many negotiations on behalf of the British government, from arms control with the Russians to entry talks to the European Community in 1972. But perhaps his greatest contribution to forming policy was on the environment.
In 1977, while taking a sabbatical at Harvard, he wrote Climatic Change and World Affairs. This was one of the first and the only book on the coming climate crisis and what governments should do to prevent it for at least a decade. Margaret Thatcher credited him with convincing her of the science of global warming and the danger that it posed for the planet, bringing climate change into the mainstream of British politics. Whenever the government position allowed him to do so, he helped to steer environment goals in the right direction – and was proud of his successful efforts as permanent secretary at the Overseas Development Administration (1984-87) to put an end to all aid for anything to do with tobacco.
Source: The Guardian, 30 January 2022
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A health label warning pregnant women of the dangers of using snus whilst pregnant has been approved and will be in use from February 4.
Ingvild Kjerkol (AP), the Minister for Health and Care Services, was happy about the approval. Kjerkol said: “…we have had a negative development with many young women starting with snus, and several of these are unable to stop when they become pregnant. It is important that they learn that snus use during pregnancy can increase the risk of birth defects and stillbirth.”
A European Union-wide “Tobacco Directive”, which regulates, amongst other things, health warnings on tobacco products, came into force back in 2016. Its incorporation into the European Economic Area (Norway is a member) has been delayed but will finally enter force on February 4. The directive, however, still needs the approval of the Norwegian parliament.
Source: Norway Today, 29 January 2022
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