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Glamorous vaping on TikTok draws young into habit, campaigners fear
A new ASH survey of 2,613 under 18s across Britain, has found a rise in the use of fruity and brightly coloured vapes, which are popular on social media.
This includes a new generation of disposable vapes known as puff bars, which contain nicotine and have come on to the market in the past year.
The research found that the proportion of children aged 11 to 17 who were “current users” of vapes had increased from 4% in 2020 to 7% this year. The percentage of children who had tried vaping had risen from 14% to 16%.
52% of youngsters who vaped said disposable e-cigarettes were their favoured product, a dramatic rise on the 7% who said the same thing in 2020. According to the report, the most popular brands were Elf Bar and Geek Bar with only 32% of young vapers saying they used any other.
While it is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18 in the UK, social media displays posts from teenagers showing vapes and discussing flavours, which include pink lemonade, strawberry and mango. The research found, of those who vaped, 57% said fruit flavours were their favourite type.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “Online platforms don’t need to wait, they must act now. The flood of glamourous promotion of vaping on social media, in particular TikTok, is completely inappropriate and they should turn off the tap.”
More than half of the children surveyed were aware of e-cigarette promotion, and 45% cited TikTok as a source of online promotion. Instagram was mentioned by 31%.
Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London and the author of a forthcoming review of e-cigarette evidence for the government, said: “The rise in vaping is concerning and we need to understand what lies behind this, such as packaging, accessibility, taste or addictiveness.”
“Our response must be proportionate given smoking is a much bigger risk to the health of young people and good evidence that e-cigarettes can be an effective stop-smoking aid.”
When it came to regular tobacco smoking, 14% of the children surveyed had smoked cigarettes, down from 16% in 2020.
Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, said: “Social media platforms supposedly have policies to prevent promotion of vapes to children, but they do little to enforce them . . . Most retailers and importers don’t sell to children and want tougher enforcement to ensure that others don’t either.”
Source: The Times, 7 July 2022
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Opinion: Steve Barclay is NHS leadership’s worst “nightmare”
Editor of the Health Service Journal, Alastair McLellan, highlights concerns shared by NHS leaders in light of the appointment of Steve Barclay as health secretary.
McLellan cites a number of quotes from NHS leaders who describe Barclay as, “A real nightmare, vindictive, arrogant, a bully, hostile to the NHS and all its works, a micro-manager of the wrong things, views NHS management as bloated and profligate.”
According to McLellan, Barclay is also accused of viewing the NHS as a “bottomless pit, resistant to change and unaccountable”.
McLellan highlights Barclay’s attempted delay of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in late 2020 as evidence of Barclay’s suspicion of NHS spending and warns that any forthcoming pay rise recommendations by NHS pay review bodies will likely be coupled with service cuts elsewhere.
McLellan concludes by wishing Barclay good luck in his new appointment and asks, “Can Mr Barclay be the supportive and constructive health secretary the service needs as this time of maximum stress?”
Source: HSJ, 6 July 2022
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Statistics on women's smoking status at time of delivery: England, Quarter 4, 2021-22
Key points:
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9.1% of women were smokers at time of delivery in 2021-22. This is a noticeable 0.5 percentage point decrease from 2020-21 (9.6%), but still above the current national ambition of 6% or less
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The percentage of women recorded as smoking at the time of delivery for quarter 4 (Jan – March) is 9.4%. This is an increase from the 8.8% in the previous quarter (quarter 3 Oct – Dec).
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There continues to be a large geographical variation in this indicator. In quarter 4 of 2021-2022, the lowest proportions of women known to be smokers at time of delivery were in NHS North West London CCG (3.2%), NHS North East London CCG (4.5%) and NHS South East London CCG (4.6%). 10 CCGs had proportions above 15%. Those with the highest were NHS Blackpool CCG (22.4%), NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG (21.5%) and NHS North Lincolnshire CCG (18.6%).
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8 out of 106 submitting CCGs met the national ambition of 6% or less in quarter 4 of 2021-22
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In quarter 4 of 2021-2022 the number of maternities with an unknown smoking status was 1.4%. This is a decrease from 2.0% in quarter 3 of 2021-2022. Those with the highest unknown maternities were NHS Portsmouth CCG (16.1%), NHS Devon CCG (14.3%) and NHS West Suffolk CCG (10.3%)
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Data was received from all CCGs for quarter 4
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NHS Digital note - ‘COVID-19 and the production of statistics. Due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) disruption, the quality and coverage of some of our statistics has been affected, for example by an increase in non-submissions for some datasets. For the SATOD collection, there is a noticeable difference in the percentage of women who were smokers at the time of delivery in 2021/22 from the previous year (from 9.6% to 9.1%). Therefore, data should be interpreted with care over the COVID-19 period’.
Regional decline in SATOD between 2020-21 and 2021-22
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North East and Yorkshire (1 percentage point)
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Midlands (0.8 percentage points)
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East of England (0.8 percentage points)
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South East (0.7 percentage points)
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North West (0.4 percentage points)
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South West (0.3 percentage points)
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London (0.1 percentage points)
Source: NHS Digital, 7 July 2022
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No 10 gambling adviser a former betting firm boss
Boris Johnson’s policy chief, Andrew Griffith, is leading the fight against gambling reform despite being a former boss of Sky Bet, according to the Mail. Griffith, 51, was Sky’s finance chief between 2008 and 2019, and is now trying to kill proposals that campaigners say are lifesaving, insiders told the Mail.
A Mail investigation published this week revealed up to 115 suicides in which problem gambling was a significant factor.
Tory sources said they believe Mr Griffith’s tenure at Sky is a “conflict” and that he must be excluded from the forthcoming gambling review. They accused the head of the Number 10 Policy Unit of being a “free market ideologue” who was trying to overrule a review based on 16,000 pieces of evidence.
David Canzini, the deputy chief of staff at Number 10, was also linked to a major bookmaker. Until February he was director of a firm, CT Group, which counted Ladbrokes Coral among its clients. The duo have formed a rearguard action against reform with the backing of Cabinet Office minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Proposals to toughen the rules governing Britain’s gambling sector were expected in 2021, and the ongoing conflict may now push them into the autumn.
In an attempt to win the argument, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on gambling harm this week provided Mr Canzini with reports containing “testimony and information about the problems with this deeply unregulated gambling industry”.
Former gambling minister Chris Philp had staked his reputation on reform, last week telling colleagues that gambling was “a serious public health issue” and that too many people have been “led down a path to a dark destination” (Chris Philp has since resigned from the Government).
Addressing the MPs’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, Mr Philp said: “The things that worry me the most as we think about the gambling White Paper are things like online slots and online casinos – the areas where people can get really heavily addicted to gambling. But, that said, we do want to make sure – although this [lotteries and scratchcards] is a lower-risk form of gambling – we do want to make sure it’s done safely.”
Source: Mail Online, 6 July 2022
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US: Juul can keep selling vaping products as it appeals ban, FDA says
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will continue to allow Juul to sell its products while the vaping company appeals a recent ban, the agency said on Tuesday.
The FDA wrote on Twitter that there were “scientific issues” warranting additional review of the agency’s ruling last month, which ordered the company to remove its e-cigarettes from the US marketplace.
The agency issued the initial ban on 23rd June, but a federal appeals court granted Juul’s request for a hold.
The agency reiterated that the stay should not be misconstrued as a decision to rescind the original order. It said the stay – and the agency’s review – did not “constitute authorization to market, sell or ship Juul products”.
Source: The Guardian, 6 July 2022
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Ministerial changes in Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Resignations
Cabinet
Resigned: Sajid Javid, Health Secretary
[Dismissed]: Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Ministers
Edward Argar, health minister
Kemi Badenoch, levelling up minister
Neil O'Brien, levelling up minister
Parliamentary private secretaries
Saqib Bhatti, Department of Health and Social Care
Dr James Davies, Department of Health and Social Care
Gareth Davies, Department of Health and Social Care
Jacob Young, Department for Levelling Up
Danny Kruger, Department for Levelling Up
New appointees
Steve Barclay, new Health Secretary
Greg Clark, new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
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Maggie Throup statement regarding the Prime Minister
Maggie Throup, has confirmed that she will continue as public health minister in a written statement shared on Twitter this morning.
She stated: "It remains an immense privilege to lead our COVID vaccination programme and to serve as the Vaccines and Public Health Minister."
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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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