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Smoking age in England should rise by a year each year, review says
The age at which people can legally buy tobacco in England should rise from 18 by one year every year until no one can buy it, a government-commissioned review has recommended. Javed Khan OBE, the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, was commissioned by Health Secretary Sajid Javid to find ways to make England smokefree by 2030.
The Khan Review also calls for an extra £125m a year to be invested in smoke-free policies, with £70m a year ringfenced for stop smoking services. The report adds: “If the government cannot fund this themselves, they should make the polluter pay and either introduce a tobacco industry levy, or generate additional corporation tax, with immediate effect.”
Khan recommended a total of 15 interventions to help meet the government’s target. They include promoting vapes as an effective “swap to stop” tool to help people quit smoking, as well as improving prevention in the NHS so smokers are offered support to quit at every interaction they have with health services. Other interventions recommended in the report include a tobacco licence for retailers to limit its availability across the country, a rethink of the look of cigarette sticks and packets to further reduce their appeal, and a mass media campaign to encourage smokers to quit.
Khan said that “Without immediate and sustained action, England will miss the smoke-free target by many years and most likely decades. […] My proposals are not just a plan for this government, but successive governments too. To truly achieve a smoke-free society in our great country, we need to commit to making smoking obsolete, once and for all.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “Javed Khan’s top priority is immediate and substantial increased government funding for tobacco control. He’s absolutely right.”
Grace Everest, a policy fellow at The Health Foundation, welcomed the review but said it would only help create a smoke-free society if the government “chooses to deliver” on its recommendations.
Jim McManus, the president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said the proposals offered “a generational opportunity” to not only reach, but to go beyond the target for a smoke-free 2030 and make “a huge difference to the nation’s health”.
The recommendations will be considered by ministers and a response will be published as part of the government’s health disparities white paper.
Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2022
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"Sales of cigars with a 'natural' descriptor are both prominent and growing," said Ollie Ganz, an instructor in the Department of Health, Behaviour, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health. The study examined cigar sales data to assess trends in the sales of cigars that claimed to be natural in the packaging in the US. They found that sales of cigars claiming to be natural increased from 22.3% in 2017 to 33.9% in 2021.
"This is concerning because we know from previous research that the term 'natural' can decrease harm perceptions of the product, increase its appeal and influence people's beliefs about the quality of the product and its users" Ganz said.
It is recommended that future research examine the use of potentially misleading descriptors specifically on cigar packaging and advertising and its potential impact on consumer perceptions and behaviours.
Source: MedicalXpress, 8 June 2022
See also: Tobacco Control - Emergence and growth of ‘natural’ cigars in the USA
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A new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows perceptions that e-cigarettes were "more harmful" than cigarettes by adults in the United States more than doubled between 2019-2020 and perceptions that e-cigarettes are "less harmful" declined between 2018-2020.
The study also found that increase in cigarette smoking prevalence (2019-2020) was restricted to those who perceived e-cigarettes as "more harmful" than cigarettes, while increases in prevalence of e-cigarette use was restricted to those who perceived e-cigarettes as "less harmful" than cigarettes.
Dr. Priti Bandi, principal scientist at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the study said "It is challenging for individuals to make conclusions about the short- and long-term health effects of tobacco products without clear, effective, and ongoing communication from public health authorities [...] There is a need for behavioural interventions to encourage individuals to be informed consumers of available scientific findings and appreciate that while no tobacco products are safe, there are inherent differences between relative and absolute harms between tobacco products that can influence behaviour. In turn, public health education campaigns must facilitate informed decision making by translating emerging scientific evidence accurately to appropriate audiences."
Source: MedicalXpress, 8 June 2022
See also: American Journal of Preventative Medicine - Relative harm perceptions of e-cigarettes versus cigarettes, U.S. adults, 2018–2020
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