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Plan to raise smoking age to 21 to be unveiled amid UK government splits
Plans to raise the legal smoking age to 21 and place new taxes on tobacco companies could be announced on Thursday, amid splits in government over the radical recommendations.
The delayed review by Javed Khan, the former chief executive of Barnardo’s, will be released on Thursday. It was commissioned by the health secretary, Sajid Javid.
Khan has denied speculation by some sources that the review’s delay is down to pushback from ministers and said there had been extra work to do. Challenges with the government grid have also played a part in its delay.
However, the Guardian understands there is scepticism across government about changes to the legal age limit, as well as further tax rises. The plan is likely to go out to consultation after details are released.
Thursday’s launch, which underlines the review’s independence, will be attended by the chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, the health minister Maggie Throup and the shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne.
After the Government dropped parts of its obesity strategy, Javid has been keen to keep the target of making the UK smoke-free by 2030, which also has the potential to be ditched as a “nanny state” policy that Tory backbenchers oppose.
In an interview before his review, Khan warned that the target to have just 5% of people smoking by 2030 would not be met without action from the government to restrict sales.
There are 6 million smokers in England and tobacco use increased by 25% among the under-30s during the pandemic, a rise of more than 600,000 smokers in that age bracket. Overall, rates have been falling for the past two decades to less than 15%.
Source: The Guardian, 7 June 2022
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NHS hospital stop-smoking services criticised in new audit
More must be done to help smokers in hospital to quit, a new review has concluded, after it found that less than 1% of smokers manage to quit after a hospital stay.
The British Thoracic Society’s (BTS) audit of hospital-based services which help people quit smoking found that “little” progress has been made to help smokers who are in hospital get the help they need to quit.
The authors warned that opportunities have been missed to help improve the health of sick smokers and reduce premature deaths.
Dr Matt Evison, BTS clinical audit lead, said: “This audit unfortunately shows that we are still struggling to make meaningful progress in helping patients quit smoking at a national level. While the results are disappointing today, I am looking at this audit as the start – the baseline against which we now need to improve.”
The review examined data on 120 hospitals from across the UK and found:
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One in five hospitals still offer dedicated smoking areas for patients
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Only 9% of smokers received an assessment with a smoking specialist while in hospital
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Only 5% were given a quit aid
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Just 3% of smokers admitted to hospital attended a follow-up service to check on their quit attempt after they were sent home from hospital.
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Out of 2,400 people who smoked and were admitted to hospital, just one was given a vaping kit
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Less than 1% were recorded to be “successfully abstinent post discharge”
Source: Glasgow Evening Times, 8 June 2022
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Call for annual charge on tobacco industry to fund health work in West Sussex
Smoking costs West Sussex an average £188.9m per year in lost productivity as well as health and social care expenses, councillors have been told at a meeting of the full council late last month.
Members gave unanimous support to a notice of motion from Cllr Zack Ali (Conservative, Southgate & Gossops Green), which asked the council to support Cancer Research UK’s call for the government to launch a Smokefree Fund.
The fund would be a fixed annual charge on the tobacco industry – making it pay for the damage caused by its products – which would be used to fund local tobacco control work.
Councillors were told that 87,000 adults in the county still smoked – around 13% – while 7% of 15-year-olds also smoked.
Councillors shared their own tales of friends and families lost to lung cancer and other smoking-related conditions.
Source: Sussex World, 7 June 2022
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Opinion: Time for a statutory levy on the gambling industry
Writing for the Telegraph, former Conservative leader and vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, urges the Government to introduce a statutory levy on the gambling industry:
Smith highlights the extent of problem gambling in the UK, stating, “55,000 children aged between 11 to 16 […] are gambling addicts”, and the fact that, “On average a problem gambler commits suicide every single day”.
Smith argues that a statutory levy would provide crucial funding to combat the harmful influence of supposedly “reformed” gambling companies and states that this proposal has received resistance from industry lobbyists and Treasury officials, despite its social and economic benefits. He points to the example of the gambling firm 888 UK Ltd which was recently “fined £9.4m for multiple breaches of social responsibility measures and money laundering failings”.
Smith deems the current voluntary arrangement for gambling support between the industry and charity GambleAware “unsatisfactory” and lacking “proper accountability or consistency of funding”. In contrast, Smith argues, a statutory levy would ensure independent, consistent and fair funding for the treatment of gambling addiction. He highlights support for a levy from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and leading NHS clinicians.
Smith argues that the taxpayer should not be expected to “carry the burden of additional healthcare costs flowing from gambling harms” and that these costs should be “paid by the industry which creates that harm in the first place.”
Source: The Telegraph, 7 June 2022
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Italy lights up again: Smoking rises to highest level in almost two decades
In 2003, Italy became the first country in the European Union to pass a law backing a ban on indoor smoking in public places, which in turn led to an almost 9% drop in consumption, according to a study by the Annals of Oncology journal.
The 2005 study also showed that support for the ban had grown after it came into force, with 83.3% of people in favour of a ban in 2001 versus 90% after it was implemented.
Last year, there were international headlines when fashion capital Milan decided to ban smoking outdoors, the first Italian city to forbid smoking in places such as parks, bus stops and cemeteries.
But after years of decline the Italian government’s Higher Health Institute (ISS) announced last week that smokers were back on the rise, with 800,000 new users since 2019.
A total of 12.4 million Italians – just over 24% of the population – smoke in 2022, the highest percentage in Italy since 2006.
The findings have not only caused alarm among the country’s health sector, but they also contradict the ISS’s own 2020 assessment, in which they concluded that traditional cigarette smokers were dwindling because of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
“The spike in smokers is concerning,” ISS president Silvio Brusaferro said in a statement. “It’s important to activate preventative actions, starting from the youngest, to ensure a longer life.”
Source: The Independent, 7 June 2022
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Debate: Statutory Gambling Levy
On Tuesday, 7 June 2022, MPs debated a statutory gambling levy.
The debate was led by Carolyn Harris MP (Labour, Swansea East), who argued:
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Gambling is leading to significant harm in this country, and more than 55,000 children aged between 11 and 16 are gambling addicts. The gambling industry spends more than £1.5 billion a year on advertising, and 60% of its profits come from the 5% who are already problem gamblers or at risk of becoming so. On average, one problem gambler commits suicide every single day, and we have families here today who have experienced such loss.
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A statutory levy should replace the current voluntary arrangement for gambling support; the current voluntary arrangement between the gambling industry and Gamble Aware, which sees around £10 million a year donated to treat gambling addiction is inadequate and insufficient, as operators have discretion over how much they contribute.
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When the scale of the cost of gambling harm and the poor operation of the voluntary levy is considered, this method is inadequate to provide funding for research, education and treatment.
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Stake limits for online gambling should be comparable to those for land-based venues.
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Any system of affordability must be run independently of the industry and have a single customer view.
A recording of the debate is available here
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