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** 22 July 2022
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** UK
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** Smoking could be banned in these Manchester city centre areas later this year (#1)
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** Smoking banned in children’s play areas across North East Lincolnshire (#2)
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** More than £64,000 worth of illegal vaping and tobacco products seized in day of action (#3)
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** International
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** Australia's birth rate plummets to its lowest level in more than a decade (#4)
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** Philip Morris CEO says Russia exit won’t happen until year end (#5)
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** Link of the week
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** Three years ago today – Smokefree 2030 announced (#6)
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** UK
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Smoking could be banned in Manchester city centre areas later this year


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** Some public spaces in Manchester could be smoke-free by the end of this year as the city looks to follow in the footsteps of Melbourne and New York.

People smoking in selected city centre outdoor spaces would be asked to stub out their cigarette or leave the smoke-free zone as part of a new pilot project. But there are no plans to bring in by-laws or fines for people caught smoking, with an “education-first” approach, where people are offered support to quit, favoured.

It comes as Greater Manchester joins the Partnership of Healthy Cities – a global network committed to saving lives by preventing noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease. By joining, the city-region has committed to creating smoke-free outdoor spaces to protect residents and visitors from illnesses caused by tobacco.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett, chair of the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership Board, said: "People living in Greater Manchester have a lower life expectancy than those living in other parts of the country, and we must take action to reduce preventable illnesses and the role they play in our considerable health inequalities. When we look at smoking, which is the leading cause of preventable illnesses, we have some of the highest smoking rates in the country, and it has a significant impact on our people’s health and wellbeing.”

Dennett added: "Smoke-free spaces not only promote healthy behaviours to children and young people, but they also encourage smokers to quit and make it easier for ex-smokers to stay smoke-free. Through the Partnership for Healthy Cities network we will boost our efforts in making smoking history to ensure longer, healthier lives for our residents."

Source: Manchester Evening News, 22 July 2022
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Read Article ([link removed] )


** Smoking banned in children’s play areas across North East Lincolnshire
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** Children’s play areas across North East Lincolnshire are going smoke-free as part of efforts to create a world free from tobacco and foster a healthier environment for children. The plans being introduced by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Public Health team have seen signage starting to be installed at all children’s play areas in the borough.

Over six people a day and over 2,000 people each year are admitted to hospital due to smoking related harm in North East Lincolnshire alone. In 2018/19, smoking-related harm in North East Lincolnshire cost the Council some £3.9 million.

Councillor Stan Shreeve, portfolio holder for health, wellbeing and adult social care at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “I think this is an overwhelmingly positive move. We consulted members of the public on this issue and it was immediately clear that there was strong support – 98% of people who responded to our consultation agreed with the idea, and this included smokers and non-smokers across different age groups.”

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “Our public spaces should be places where everyone can enjoy, without the risk of breathing in harmful second-hand smoke.I’m pleased that this policy has been supported overwhelmingly by members of the public.”

Source: The Lincolnite, 21 July 2022
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Read Article ([link removed] )


** More than £64,000 worth of illegal vaping and tobacco products seized in day of action
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** More than £64,000 worth of illegal vaping and tobacco products have been seized from shops in Great Bridge and Smethwick in the West Midlands.

Sandwell Council Trading Standards and licensing officers, along with colleagues from West Midlands Police, visited eight shops in Great Bridge and Smethwick and removed the products from the market on 7 July. Officers were supported by tobacco detection dogs provided by Wagtail UK.

In total, officers seized 400 illegal vaping products worth around £3,200 whilst, in one shop alone, the tobacco detection dogs sniffed out 6,692 packs of cigarettes and 50 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco with a retail value worth more than £61,000.

Following the day of action, officers visited five more shops in Smethwick on 12 July, seizing an additional 402 of illegal vaping products, worth more than £3,200.

Vaping devices are highly regulated by the government to control the amount of nicotine available and have to be notified with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The legal capacity of a disposable e-cigarette tank is 2ml. Many of those seized on the “day of action” were more than double this, ranging from 4.5ml up to 9ml. Products should also have the name and address of a UK contact if the producer is based outside of the UK. Many of the seized products were missing this information, along with essential instructions for use, and health and safety warnings.

Source: Express & Star, 21 July 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** International
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** Australia's birth rate plummets to its lowest level in more than a decade
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** Australia has reported its lowest birth rate in more than a decade, as the average age of first-time parents continues to increase. According to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare published today, the country's birth rate fell significantly between 2007 and 2020, from 66 per 1000 people, to 56 per 1000 people. The report also finds that the average age for giving birth rose from 30 in 2010 to 30.9, with the proportion of teenage parents falling from 3.8% to 1.8% in the decade to 2020.

More than nine in 10 of the nearly 296,000 babies born in Australia in 2020 were born at term and a healthy weight. However, in the past decade, the rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths remained between 7% and 8% for every 1000 births, and between 2% and 3% for every 1000 live births. The number of expectant parents who reported smoking at some stage during their pregnancy dropped from 14% to about 9% in the previous decade up to 2020.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is expected to release a more detailed report about still births and neonatal deaths in November.

Source: Daily Mail, 22 July 2022
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** See also: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's mothers and babies ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed] )


** Philip Morris CEO says Russia exit won’t happen until year end
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** Philip Morris International’s exit from the Russian market likely won’t happen until close to the end of the year, says the company’s chief executive officer, Jacek Olczak.

Olczak told Bloomberg Television (US): “We are working hard to conclude our presence in Russia but I don’t think it’s going to happen in the time frame of the next quarter”.

Philip Morris earlier on Thursday reported second-quarter financial results that beat analysts’ expectations as it sold more of its IQOS heated tobacco products and profited from higher cigarette prices.
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** Source: Bloomberg, 21 July 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Link of the week
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** Three years ago today – Smokefree 2030 announced
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** Three years ago today, the Government announced its ambition to go “smoke-free” in England by 2030 in a Green Paper on prevention.

This ambition included an ultimatum for the tobacco industry to make smoked tobacco obsolete by 2030. Recognising the pressure on local budgets, the Government also promised to consider new funding mechanisms such as a “polluter pays” approach requiring tobacco companies to pay towards the cost of tobacco control, and proposals to raise funds under health legislation, claiming further proposals for moving towards a smoke-free 2030 “will be set out at a later date.”

Three years on and those further proposals have still not been announced, and the Government response to the Khan review ([link removed]) , has now been further delayed ([link removed]) , with no date in view for the next Tobacco Control Plan.
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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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