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** 16 March 2022
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** UK
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** Blackpool MPs' new call to tackle smoking to improve residents' health as Conservatives prepare for conference in the town (#1)
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** Fifteen thousand deaths in West Midlands could have been avoided, stark report finds (#2)
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** International
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** Denmark considers ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after 2010 (#3)
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** Indian cigarette giant ITC bets on tobacco even as it touts ESG push (#4)
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** China to tighten regulation on e-cigarettes (#5)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary Questions (#6)
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** UK
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Blackpool North and Clevelys MP Paul Maynard and Blackpool South MP Scott Benton have highlighted the impact that high smoking rates in Blackpool have on poor health in the city. In a joint statement, the MPs said that COVID-19 had exposed the extent of Blackpool’s health inequality compared to other areas of the country, with high smoking rates a leading cause.

In Blackpool smoking rates are currently 19.8% versus just 5.5% in areas such as Wokingham in the South East. The two Blackpool MPs noted this fact and said that it was time for a new message and approach to tackling smoking. "The Government have made it an ambition for the whole country to be smoke-free by 2030, given how high the rates are in Blackpool, we wholeheartedly endorse this message. However, studies suggest we are set to miss this target by at least seven years. In England we could almost immediately provide each cigarette smoker with a targeted message on the alternatives that are available to them with inserts in packets of cigarettes that point to the alternatives available. Bizarrely, this is not currently allowed.”

They added that “another example of lack of joined up thinking was the announcement that e-cigarettes would be available on the NHS. The verification process for a manufacturer to get certified is long, drawn out and expensive – sadly this is not going to benefit cigarette smokers in Blackpool who we need to reach the most. If we are serious about achieving health equality, we need to start with addressing our smoking rates, encouraging people in Blackpool and across the UK to stub out this habit for good or, at the very least, switch to a less harmful alternative.”
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Source: Blackpool Gazette, 15 March 2022
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New figures have shown that more people in the West Midlands are dying from avoidable causes over the last decade than in past. The data found that a total of 7,037 deaths in Birmingham and another 8,889 in the Black Country were considered avoidable in the three-year period from 2018 to 2020, the highest number since 2006-08, with 15 people a day dying from an avoidable death.

The data found that COVID-19 exacerbated the number of avoidable or preventable deaths, defined as those that could have been prevented by effective and timely healthcare, better public health policies, or a combination of both. Tobacco addiction is a leading cause of preventable death. The rate of avoidable deaths is higher in the West Midlands than nationally, with 310 deaths per 100,000 people in Birmingham, for example, compared with the England average of 235. The rate of preventable deaths amongst men was higher than amongst women across the West Midlands.

The data found a rise in alcohol and drug-related deaths and cancer deaths. Health experts say they are alarmed at how much the overall total has risen over the last decade. Dr Penelope Toff, chair of the British Medical Association public health medicine committee, said: “What this data shows is that there is an urgent need to tackle the underlying causes of poor physical and mental health. Public health grants for next year are due to be 24% lower per person in England than they were in 2015/16 [leading to] vital facilities - such as smoking cessation clinics and mental health services - being stripped back or shut entirely. Restoring public health funding to at least previous levels will be a vital step in reducing the number of deaths from preventable causes.”
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Source: Birmingham Mail, 16 March 2022
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** International
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** Denmark has unveiled plans to ensure that future generations are tobacco free, announcing that it is considering banning the sale of cigarettes and nicotine products to anyone born after 2010. Currently, Danes must be 18 years old to buy cigarettes and e-cigarettes. A poll commissioned by the Danish Cancer Society found that 64% of people surveyed supported the Danish Government’s plan with 67% support amongst those aged 18-34.

Denmark’s plans follow the announcement in New Zealand that it would ban the sale of tobacco to young people by progressively raising the age of sale limit as of 2027. The Malaysian government is currently considering and passing through parliament similar plans to ban the sale of cigarettes to the next generation. In Denmark, the Social Democratic government said that it also plans to address alcohol consumption amongst young people and will raise the legal age of purchase for drinks containing less than 16.5% alcohol from 16 to 18.

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** Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2022
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** India’s largest tobacco company ITC is promoting its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards to investors even as it continues to bank on the growth of its cigarette business. Though ITC has diversified beyond cigarettes by going into fast-moving consumer goods, technology, and hotels, cigarettes still account for a third of revenues and 80% of earnings before tax and interest.

British American Tobacco is ITC’s largest shareholder with an almost 30% stake in ITC, and ITC reported revenues of Rs158.6bn (£1.5bn) and profit after tax of Rs41.6bn (£411m) in the quarter ending in December. Vaishakhi Mallik, an associate director at Vital Strategies, a public health campaign group, rejected the argument that tobacco companies could ever be a responsible investment, saying that despite “trying to convince the public, investors and governments that they’re changing for the better  ...  this is still an industry that harms health and the environment”.

ITC’s diversification plan underscores the paradox for investors as they remain compelled by the high profitability of cigarettes but seek more responsible investing. It also underscores the paradox that cigarette companies can enjoy high ESG ratings for making supply chains more environmentally friendly even with enormous health damage done by their core tobacco products. ITC scores a double A rating on MSCI’s ESG index, relatively high among large Indian corporations.

A ban on e-cigarettes in India means ITC has been unable to diversify into non-tobacco alternatives as other firms have. In total, foreign institutional holdings of ITC stock have nearly halved to about 10% since 2017, reflecting a lack of faith that ITC can diversify beyond tobacco.
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** Source: Financial Times, 16 March 2022
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** China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has announced a new regulation that will increase oversight of e-cigarette production, wholesale, and retail entities starting from May 1 2022. Under the regulation, flavoured e-cigarettes will be banned and e-cigarette sales outlets will be prohibited from setting up near schools. Sales channel management on e-cigarettes will be carried out, while an e-cigarette trading management platform will be established to standardise sales. Efforts will also be made to regulate product safety and quality, as well as transportation, import, and export.

The regulations aim to address gaps in recent years which have seen e-cigarettes with unclear nicotine contents and unknown additives available on the market.
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Source: News.cn, 15 March 2022
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** PQ1: Oral Tobacco

Asked by Adam Afriyie, Conservative, Windsor

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** To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make a comparative assessment of prevalence of oral cancer amongst (a) South Asian women and (b) the adult population; and if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a product standard for chewed tobacco products as recommended in the 2006 study entitled Levels of toxins in oral tobacco products in the UK published in the journal Tobacco Control, volume 15, issue 1.
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Answered by Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister

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** ‘Oral cancer in England’, published in May 2020, compared the incidence of oral cancer in Asian/Asian British people with other ethnic groups in the adult population, although it made no specific assessment of prevalence in South Asian women. We have no plans to make such an assessment.No assessment of creating a product standard has been made. Products standards for tobacco are contained in The Tobacco and Related Products (Amendment) Regulations 2016. The Department is due to publish its post implementation review of the Regulations shortly.
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Source: Hansard, 15 March 2022
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