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A new survey by Lloyds Pharmacy has found that almost half of all smokers admit to hiding their smoking from loved ones. The study of 2,000 smokers found that smokers reported using various excuses like walking the dog (43%), going to the shops (54%), and taking the bins out (40%).
The study also looked at reasons for hiding smoking, which included to avoid upsetting a partner (91%), feeling guilty (46%) felt guilty, and because they felt they would be judged (51%). Smokers reported using a variety of tactics to cover up the smell including having a shower (32%), changing into different clothes (37%), and keeping the windows open in the car or the house (45%).
Despite all of these efforts, nearly half of respondents say that they have been previously caught by someone they were trying to hide their smoking from. Over a quarter of all smokers would happily lie to someone they did not know well about being a smoker whilst 36% admit to falsely filling out professional forms regarding their smoking status. More than 7 in 10 smokers have tried to quit smoking but 83% reported finding it too difficult.
Despite this, 59% of smokers plan on quitting in the near future, with saving money being the main motivator. A further third (37%) said they would quit to improve and protect the health of family members, whilst 70% wanted to do it for their own health and wellbeing.
Source: The Mirror, 17 February 2022
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A new investigation from The Guardian and openDemocracy has revealed the full reach of lobbyists acting as All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) secretariats. The investigation reveals that dozens of communications and public affairs companies are helping to run more than 100 out of the 755 total groups, with sponsorship from corporate interests. These companies, which act as APPG secretariats, conduct activities for members and sometimes cultivate industry funders.
There is a framework of rules for APPGs but it is largely self-policed. Connect Communications, co-owned and run by former Labour MP Andy Sawford, runs the secretariats of 14 APPGs. Policy Connect, a not-for-profit company, runs the secretariats of nine APPGs. HealthComms Consulting, a lobbying firm founded by current Conservative MP Paul Bristow, acts as the secretariat of six health APPGs. Political consultancy College Green Group runs the secretariat for four APPGs.
Policy Connect has held meetings attended by ministers and paying businesses, whilst healthcare firms provided most of the £250,000 financial benefits-in-kind support to the APPGs run by HealthComms Consulting. HealthComms Consulting was previously named PB Consulting, which had offered clients services such as “NHS market access” and “parliamentary awareness”. Bristow was embroiled in controversy in 2020 when he submitted questions to ministers on a range of health issues linked to the lobbying firm without at first raising a potential conflict of interest.
College Green Group admits that it seeks sponsors for APPGs: “We engage with businesses and organisations […]. Based on these conversations we make recommendations to the APPG and, if all parties are in agreement, we engage the sponsors.” In one example, the corporate governance APPG has received over £100,000 in recent years from British American Tobacco, Deloitte, PwC, and others to run a secretariat led by lobbyist Jennifer Bryant-Pearson.
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A new study has estimated that a recent ban on junk food advertising by Transport for London has contributed to a 1,000 calorie decrease in unhealthy purchases in people’s weekly shopping. The biggest reductions reached 20% for chocolate and confectionery, reducing 317.9 calories in average weekly household purchases of energy from these products. In total, the decrease amounts to around 385 calories per person per week, equivalent to 1.5 standard-size bars of milk chocolate.
Researchers led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine compared almost two million weekly grocery purchases of products high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) by households in London and the north of England between June 2018 and December 2019. They found that the policy was associated with an estimated 1,001 calorie (6.7%) decrease in average weekly household purchases of energy from HFSS products versus what would have happened without the policy.
The team found some limited indications that the effect of the ban was larger in households with people living with obesity. TfL’s ban on advertising HFSS products began in 2019 and encompasses the underground, overground, buses, Docklands Light Railway, taxis, and some roadside advertising sites like roundabouts and bus stops. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “pleased” with the results whilst Barbara Crowther of the Children’s Food Campaign said she was “delighted”.
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A new review of Australian research has found that passive secondhand smoking is the most frequently identified trigger for asthma in the home, ahead of other causes such as synthetic pillows or bedding and gas heating.
The review analysed 56 studies involving 137,840 people in Australia and found that passive smoking was the most commonly reported factor in many homes where people have asthma and need asthma treatment. The main sources of passive smoke in Australia were smoking by a parent or other family member at home and by colleagues, with children the main victims of passive smoke as they are exposed to their parents' smoking, and particularly their mothers’, at home.
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The Thai Cabinet has approved a five-year road map for lowering tobacco consumption in Thailand. The plan has been given a 498 million baht budget (£11.3m) and will start this year and end in 2027. The six stranded strategy includes regulating the consumption of tobacco, public education, stop smoking support, laws around the disclosure of tobacco product contents, smoking bans in public places, and tobacco tax reform alongside crackdown on the illicit market.
Source: The Thaiger, 17 February 2022
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The Department of Health and Social Care has launched an Independent Review of Smoking, led by former Bernardo's CEO Javed Khan. Khan has issued a call out on Twitter for views on what the Government can do to support current smokers to quit and to stop people taking up smoking.
You can respond to Khan's tweet here.
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The Government has launched a consultation on its 10-year cancer plan. DHSC is seeking the views of individuals, professionals, and organisations to understand whether and how we can do more to make progress against this ambition, and to build on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The call for evidence will run for a period of 8 weeks and is open to everyone aged 16 and over. You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation.
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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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