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Welsh Government sets out vision for creating a smoke-free society by 2030
The Welsh Government has set out its plan for making Wales a smoke-free nation in the next eight years.
Its stated aim is for less than 5% of Wales' adult population to be actively smoking by the year 2030.
The strategy includes a commitment to the creation of an opt-out quit smoking programme for all patients admitted to hospital, the exploration of e-cigarettes as a potential route to quitting and an increased effort to tackle the illegal tobacco market in Wales.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable and premature ill-health in Wales, the Welsh Government says.
Suzanne Cass, CEO of ASH Wales, said: "Public support for an Endgame target is overwhelming, 73% of Welsh adults want Wales to become smoke-free." "[The] Welsh Government's commitment to this target is welcome, however, this bold strategy is going to need bold and decisive action to hit that 5% target by 2030”.
The publication of the new strategy has been eagerly awaited by other health charities across Wales.
Katie Till, Cancer Research UK's public affairs manager in Wales, said: "Smoking remains the biggest preventable cause of cancer and is responsible for around 3,100 cancer cases in Wales every year.”
Source: ITV News, 26 July 2022
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New Zealand moves ahead with world-first tobacco laws in bid to create smoke-free generation
New Zealand legislators have vowed to break the “disgusting and bizarre” hold of cigarette companies, introducing world-first legislation that will stop the next generation from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes.
On Tuesday, 26 July, the New Zealand government introduced its new laws to create a smoke-free generation, installing a steadily rising purchasing age so that those born on or after 1 January 2009, will never be able to legally purchase cigarettes.
As well as the shifting smoking age, the new laws would dramatically reduce the nicotine in cigarettes and force them to only be sold through specialty tobacco stores, rather than corner stores and supermarkets.
“For decades we have permitted tobacco companies to maintain their market share by making their deadly product more and more addictive. It is disgusting and it is bizarre. We have more regulations in this country on the safety of the sale of a sandwich than on a cigarette,” said the associate minister of health, Ayesha Verrall, as she introduced the law for its first reading .
“Our priority in bringing this bill is protecting what is precious: our people, our whānau [families], our communities”, Verrall continued.
Source: The Guardian, 27 July 2022
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British American Tobacco profit slides on £957mn Russian impairment
British American Tobacco (BAT) has posted a 30% drop in first-half pre-tax profits, after booking a near-£1bn impairment charge on the value of its Russian business.
The maker of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes on Wednesday (25 July) said it would take a £957mn charge from its decision to transfer its Russian operations to its distributor SNS, as part of the western exodus following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK-listed tobacco group also booked a separate £450mn provision from an investigation into an alleged historical breach of US sanctions, and £310mn of other charges.
BAT posted pre-tax profit of £3.1bn in the six months to 30 June, down from £4.4bn in the same period last year, while its operating margin contracted roughly 12 percentage points to 28%. Revenue was up 5.7%at £12.9bn.
BAT chief executive, Jack Bowles, said: “We are not immune, of course, to the increasing macroeconomic pressures, exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine”.
Source: Financial Times, 27 July 2022
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US: Cigarettes fuelling rise in Minnesota's preventable fire deaths
Drought conditions around the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota, US, have substantially increased the risk of fires with cigarette-related fires, specifically, on pace to be more deadly than any previous year in the last decade.
State Fire Marshal Jim Smith said: "My heart aches for every single one of these people that have suffered a loss of a family member due to something that was preventable”.
Smith reported there have been an average of between eight and nine cigarette-related fire deaths a year over the last decade, whilst there have already been seven this year.
Source: CBS Minnesota, 26 July 2022
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Parliamentary Activity
Parliamentary Questions
PQ1: Electronic Cigarettes: Health Education
Asked by Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat, St Albans
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to The Khan review: making smoking obsolete, published on 9 June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation to include the (a) risks of and (b) age restrictions for vaping in the school health education curriculum.
Answered by Will Quince, Minister for School Standards
The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance includes content on drugs, as a supplement to drug education which is part of the national curriculum for science in key stages 2 and 3.
The guidance sets out that in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug-taking. Additionally, in secondary school, pupils should be taught the associated legal and psychological risks of taking drugs.
To support schools, the department published a suite of teacher training modules and non- statutory guidance. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. This includes a module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes (vaping) and includes information on the age restrictions and laws around both legal and illegal drugs to protect young people.
The department is developing plans for monitoring implementation of RSHE over time, including measuring teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements, and whether additions or other changes to the curriculum will be required.
Source: Hansard, 25 July 2022
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