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Stop Smoking London commemorates special anniversary as more Londoners encouraged to stop smoking
Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the UK’s 2007 smoke-free legislation prohibiting smoking in enclosed public spaces including offices, shops, and pubs.
Following the publication of the Khan Review in June and ASH’s ‘Fifteen smokefree years’ report published later today, Stop Smoking London is calling on smokers in the capital to build on the success of smoke-free legislation by taking greater advantage of evidence-based ways to quit, including face to face behavioural support, prescription medication, over the counter nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH said: “Smokefree laws changed the debate irrevocably, putting the emphasis firmly on the right to fresh air instead of the right to smoke. Proof of that is the level of public support in London for more smokefree public spaces, with a majority supporting a ban in outdoor seating areas of all restaurants, pubs and cafes. The largest support is for smokefree outdoor children’s play areas (88%) and outdoor areas where children play sport (77%).”
“Three years since the Government announced its ambition and over a year since a new Tobacco Control Plan was promised, there’s no time to lose. Hundreds of children still start smoking every day and we’re nowhere near achieving the Government’s Smokefree 2030 ambition. Javed Khan’s independent review sets out a clear programme for action, supported by the public, now it’s time for Government to deliver” Arnott added.
Source: London Post, 30 June 2022
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“Action needed” to help smokers with mental health issues quit
ASH Scotland has called on more specialist support to help the estimated 230,000 people with mental health problems to quit smoking, following the publication of their report, “Closing the Inequality Gap: Smoking and Mental Health”, today.
Smoking rates among people experiencing mental health problems in Scotland’s poorest communities are between 40% and 50%, the report said. However, for those in the most affluent areas experiencing mental health issues, the rate is just 4%.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said the Scottish Government should set a specific key performance indicator and regularly report to show progress of smoking prevalence among people with mental health problems. The calls come as the Scottish Government prepares to refresh strategies aiming to improve mental health and address tobacco control in the coming months.
Duffy said: “With almost half of people with a mental health problem in our most deprived communities smoking, our new report is spotlighting a serious health inequalities gap, which needs to be urgently addressed. People with mental health and substance misuse issues smoke more, tend to be more addicted to nicotine and find it harder to quit than others in society. It is vital that people in this group are supported and empowered to make informed decisions about quitting smoking to improve their health and wellbeing.”
Source: STV News, 1 July 2022
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Sir Colin Blakemore obituary
Neuroscientist, persuasive science communicator and advocate for rationality and openness, Sir Colin Blakemore, has died of motor neurone disease at the age of 78. In 2003 Blakemore was appointed chief executive of the Medical Research Council, the government-funded body that operates medical research institutes and distributes grants.
Blakemore’s advocacy of the use of animals in research emphasised the strictly regulated practice in British laboratories. “It is important for everyone who uses animals in their research to think constantly about two things,” he wrote in an online discussion organised by Understanding Animal Research in 2016. “Whether the benefits of the research really outweigh the moral cost of using animals; and whether it might be possible to develop new alternative methods.”
With Prof David Nutt and others, in 2007 he co-authored a controversial letter to the Lancet assessing the harms of legal and illegal substances, including alcohol and tobacco, and arguing that policy should be based on level of harm.
When, two years later, Nutt was sacked from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Blakemore worked with the Science Media Centre to submit a set of principles to the science and technology select committee for its report on scientific advice and evidence, advocating for the independence of advisers and a policy of openness.
He was president of the Motor Neurone Disease Association from 2008 until 2019. A long-distance runner who completed 18 marathons and maintained an enviable level of fitness until well into his 70s, Blakemore was himself diagnosed with this fatal neurodegenerative condition in 2021.
Source: The Guardian, 29 June 2022
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Treasury warning to tighten budgets and “prioritise”
Councils facing inflationary pressures will need to tighten their budgets, the chief secretary, Simon Clarke, to the Treasury has said, as he urged the sector to embrace devolution.
Mr Clarke sent a pre-recorded video message to the Local Government Association conference in which he thanked the sector for the “crucial” role it played during the pandemic.
Mr Clarke said it was a “time of economic challenge” with inflation and slow growth meaning councils, like households and central government, will be “feeling the pinch in your budgets”.
Earlier this week, in an exclusive interview with LGC, Michael Gove, Levelling-up Secretary, told councils not to hold on to "false hope" of additional funding to help with inflationary pressures. Mr Clarke said that “the good news is that the government has not been afraid to act” and pointed to uplift in spending power in the 2022-23 local government finance settlement. However, he warned: “The reality is that it will be necessary to prioritise services.” In the longer term he said the government has a “plan to grow the economy sustainably”.
Source: LGC, 30 June 2022
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US: Bloomington, Minnesota, begins phasing out tobacco licenses for businesses
The city of Bloomington in Minnesota has begun phasing out tobacco licenses. This will mean that when a store with a tobacco license closes, the license will expire and not be replaced - the first such ordinance in the state.
Eventually, the city expects there will be no tobacco retailers. The move is one of two the city has taken to curb tobacco sales in 2022. At the start of this year, the city banned the sale of all flavoured tobacco products.
Public health leaders say the moves are an attempt to reduce the number of teens trying tobacco for the first time. Bloomington's Assistant Public Health Administrator, Nick Kelly, said: "The lower the density of tobacco retailers and the reduced amount of marketing kids see as a significant impact on their willingness to start or try tobacco”.
Source: CBS News, 30 June 2022
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Parliamentary Activity
Parliamentary questions
PQ1: Tobacco
Asked by Andrew Gwynne, Shadow Minister for Public Health
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is the Prime Minister's policy to maintain the obligations set out under Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; and whether the Prime Minister has discussed the Government's tobacco policy with (a) Lynton Crosby or (b) any people or organisations with links to the tobacco industry.
Answered by Michael Ellis, Minister for the Cabinet Office & Paymaster General
As outlined in my answer of 23 May 2022 to PQ 7958, Sir Lynton Crosby is not a Government Adviser; any assistance he may provide is in a party political capacity to the Conservative Party.
In relation to Government policy on tobacco control, I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 June 2022, Official Report, HCWS87. In developing the new Tobacco Control Plan, I can confirm the Government will continue to follow WHO principles.
Source: Hansard, 29 June 2022
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Podcast - Let’s talk e-cigarettes, ep.17
Dr Francesca Pesola from the Wolfson Institute of Population Health Queen Mary University of London talks to Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce about the results from the trial of e-cigarettes compared to nicotine patches for smoking cessation in pregnant women.
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Briefing – NHS Confederation: What do NHS leaders want from the Health Disparities White Paper?
The NHS Confederation has published a parliamentary briefing ahead of the Government’s publication of their health disparities white paper, highlighting four priorities it must reflect. These include a focus on prevention, as suggested in Javed Khan’s independent review. The briefing also includes suggested questions for the Secretary of State, including, “To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his department will provide for the implementation of the independent tobacco review, following his acceptance of the amendments in full?”
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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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