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** 17 February 2022
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** UK
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** Doctors call for e-cigarettes to be made less appealing to children (#1)
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** Opinion: The Government has gone silent on mental health (#2)
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** International
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** US: Lawsuit over Pfizer's disclosures before Chantix recall is dismissed (#3)
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** Malaysia: 'Generation End Game' towards a tobacco free generation (#5)
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** Another glass? EU rules out wine labels carrying cancer risk (#4)
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** UK
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** Doctors have expressed concern that a recent sponsorship deal struck between Blackburn Rovers and e-cigarette company Totally Wicked will make e-cigarettes more appealing to children. The Totally Wicked branding contains a garish red devil which was described by respiratory consultant and Blackburn Rovers fan Professor Stephen Fowler as looking “kind of cool” with “wacky writing, the name of the company, Totally Wicked” that could appeal to children who watch the team.

Data shows that vaping amongst under-18s remains uncommon, though 2021 YouGov research does show that more than 200,000 11-17-year-olds who had never tried smoking have tried vaping. Research from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) shows e-cigarette branding using garish colours and cartoon characters is attractive to under 18s but does not have the same influence on adults.

Totally Wicked told ITV News that its target market was adults, and neither Blackburn Rovers nor Totally Wicked have broken any rules. Football club owners say they are in a tough position as they wish to do right by their communities and fans but need to earn revenues to support business.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at Edinburgh University, says that whilst vaping is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, “I really don't think you can use sport sponsorship as a mechanism to only communicate to older people. Clearly if you have got a fun, playful logo, that's a little bit different. It's going to be something that young people will notice.” There are now questions in Holyrood and Westminster about how to regulate logos and, as Bauld says, “I don’t think this is an area that has been closely looked at. I think logos is a bit of an area where it’s very unclear whether anybody is making a decision whether a particular logo will appeal to children or not.”
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Source: ITV News, 16 February 2022
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** Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, says that the Government must adequately fund mental health in order to tackle the disparity between funding for physical and mental health if it is genuinely serious about levelling-up.

James says that the Government should stop “paying lip-service to parity of esteem” and should deliver a “fully funded plan for mental health services”. He says that people with a mental illness are being “left behind” in the same way that whole regions of the UK are being left behind. He says that the UK is dealing with its “biggest hit to its mental health since the Second World War” with record numbers of children being referred to mental health services and an eating disorder crisis.

The stresses of the pandemic and imposed lockdowns exacerbated the crisis, with an estimated 1.8 million additional referrals to mental health services in the three years following the start of the pandemic. James argues that the Government has remained “largely silent on mental health”. Mental health services earned just one passing reference in Sajid Javid’s conference speech, nothing in the Prime Minister’s, whilst the Chancellor’s budget speech underplayed the issue. Javid has said that the plan for the NHS will be completely reset this year with a focus on mental health, but James says the gravity of the problem means we need “more than plans. We need investment too”.

He says investment works, with increases over the last five years helping hundreds of thousands to access services. He says that the additional £500m given to mental health services last year was “welcome” but risks “being nothing more than a temporary sticking plaster on a wound that’s rapidly expanding”. If the Government is serious about levelling up, it must further invest in mental health.
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** Source: HSJ, 17 February 2022
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** International
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** A federal judge on Wednesday (16 February) dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit by consumers who accused Pfizer of failing to disclose the presence of cancer-causing agents in Chantix (varenicline) before recalling the anti-smoking drug in July 2021. A US District Judge found no plausible allegations that Pfizer had a duty to disclose that Chantix was contaminated by a cancer-causing carcinogen or was unfit to help consumers quit smoking, and found no proof that Pfizer’s labels were misleading.

The plaintiffs levelling the allegations claimed that Chantix was "worthless" because of the contamination and that they would not have bought it had they known about it, but the judge rejected that complaint. Pfizer said that it was pleased with the decision and continued to "stand behind the safety and efficacy of Chantix".
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** Source: Reuters, 17 February 2022
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** The Malaysian Health Ministry will table a new act in Parliament to ban smoking and possession of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to the generation born after 2005. The Ministry is calling the act the ‘Generational End Game’ and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that he hoped it would be passed by parliament given that tobacco contributes to 22% of cancer deaths in Malaysia.

Khairy noted: "Of course, we will have challenges in enforcement and black markets. But those are not excuses for us to continue to allow the sale of products that cause cancer to our young people. We hope with this step, we will spare our future generation from being exposed to cigarettes."

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** Source: New Straits Times, 17 February 2022
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** The European Parliament said on Wednesday (16 February) that alcohol warning labels should only caution against excessive consumption and not warn that drinking can increase the risk of cancer. MEPs decided to water down proposals for labels after lobbying from the French wine industry.

MEPs passed an updated resolution agreeing on the need for more cancer screening and curbs on smoking, but references to the health risks from alcoholic drinks such as wine had been changed. The original resolution had referred to World Health Organisation (WHO) advice that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption to prevent cancer and that drinking increases the risk of many cancers. Earlier drafts of the resolution had called for a ban on sports sponsorship by alcoholic drink companies but this was also amended to suggest a ban should apply only to events mainly attended by minors.

Critics of the proposals to extend warning labels said in the European Parliament that it would threaten European lifestyle. Dolors Montserrat, MEP with the centre-right European People’s Party, spoke of “our well-known Mediterranean diet” whilst Anne Sanders, MEP from Alsace, said: “it is a question of preserving our heritage, our European culture.”

The resolution is non-binding but should be considered by the European Commission, which is expected to bring forward new rules in 2023 on the labelling of alcohol. Brussels will review EU legislation on the taxation of alcohol and look at issues involving affordability and availability as part of its plan to fight cancer. That legislation is likely to also be subject to amendments by MEPs in the parliament. The EU cancer plan, launched earlier this month, also includes an ambition for less than 5% of EU citizens to be using tobacco in 20 years.
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** Source: The Telegraph, 17 February 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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