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** 6 September 2022
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** UK
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** New national vaping guidance for schools released by Action on Smoking and Health (#1)
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** What are the biggest issues facing the NHS and what has Liz Truss promised to do to fix them? (#2)
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** Police uncover thousands of illegal cigarettes in Derbyshire town – as same premises "strikes again" (#3)
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** Opinion: Are fears about the impact of vaping on young people justified? (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary questions (#5)
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** UK
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** New national vaping guidance for schools released by Action on Smoking and Health
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** In response to requests for help, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has released new national guidance for schools, to support staff in developing their policies around vaping, which is available online. The guidance has been developed with advice from teachers with expertise in safeguarding and health education and is designed to support the implementation of evidence-based school policies.

It comes as the latest data shows the proportion of children vaping is rising, up from 4% in 2020 to 7% in 2022, alongside the growing popularity of disposable vapes.

The new guidance contains valuable information to support schools as they navigate changing attitudes and behaviours. The headline message is that vaping is not for children. And that while it can help people quit smoking, if you don’t smoke don’t vape. However, the guidance also points out that most children who try vaping, have also tried smoking, and vaping is far less harmful than smoking.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said, “The new vaping guidance for schools recognises growing concerns about children vaping. It is designed as a guide to empower schools with the information they need to develop their policies."

“We understand that it can be difficult for schools to know what to do about vaping, particularly when online promotion on social media sites like TikTok, is fuelling its use.

“A whole school approach is needed to address both smoking and vaping, making it part of the curriculum, highlighting the risks, and arming children with the facts so that they can make informed choices. It’s important to remember that the harms to health are significantly greater from smoking.”

The new guidance has been welcomed by education leads, including Diane Buckle, assistant director of education (ADoE) with North Tyneside Council said, “North Tyneside Council is keen to do all we can to help our schools address the growing use of vapes by their pupils. It’s very reassuring to know that the ASH guidance has been developed with help from teachers expert in health education and safeguarding, as well as academics expert in the evidence on vaping. It is very timely and just what’s needed. We will be circulating this guidance to all our schools and encouraging them to use it to ensure that they address youth vaping appropriately.”

Source: The Dentist, 5 September 2022
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** See also: ASH - Guidance on developing school policies on vaping ([link removed])
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Read Article ([link removed])


** What are the biggest issues facing the NHS and what has Liz Truss promised to do to fix them?
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** The Evening Standard highlights some of the key challenges in the NHS Liz Truss faces.

According to the paper, there are currently “6.7 million people waiting for routine hospital treatment, record waits for ambulances and thousands of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted to A&E”, combined with, “an exhausted and demoralised workforce, severe staffing shortages and a broken social care system in desperate need of reform”.

The Standard reports Truss’s and expected health secretary, Thérèse Coffey’s, key challenges:
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** Staffing shortages: According to the paper, approximately “one in 10 full-time equivalent posts in the NHS in England are currently vacant – the highest proportion since current records began in 2018”.
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** Strikes: The paper highlights significant discontent and planned industrial action amongst NHS staff following a “miserable” 4% pay offer in July.
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** Record waits for ambulances and A&E: The paper reports that, also in July, the NHS experiences record numbers of patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to A&E, whilst ambulances “took an average of 59 minutes and seven seconds last month to respond to emergency calls - up from 51 minutes and 38 seconds in June and well above the target of 18 minutes”.
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** Hospital waiting lists: The Standard reports “a record 6.7 million” were waiting for routine hospital treatments at the end of June.
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**
Source: The Evening Standard, 5 September 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Police uncover thousands of illegal cigarettes in Derbyshire town – as same premises "strikes again"
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**
On 9 August, the Shirebrook Safer Neighbourhood Team gained access to a vehicle in the town and discovered an estimated £5,000 worth of illegal cigarettes. The discovery was made after reports of the cigarettes being sold in Shirebrook, and they were later destroyed by Trading Standards.

On Saturday, 3 September, officers reported that they had uncovered another significant amount of illegal cigarettes.

In a Facebook post, the SNT said: “You saw our post on August 9 whereby we received information regarding illegal cigarettes being sold in Shirebrook. Well, the same premises strikes again!”

“We've worked again with Trading Standards who have found and seized nearly 5,000 illegal cigarettes and a quantity of illegal tobacco. 100 non-conforming vapes were also seized.”

Source: Derbyshire Times, 5 September 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Opinion: Are fears about the impact of vaping on young people justified?

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** Ian Hamilton, senior lecturer in addiction and mental health at the University of York, discusses the rising popularity of vaping and concerns about the impact of vaping on young people.

Hamilton describes the increase in the popularity of vaping over the last decade and the concurrent rise of vape shops on high streets. He highlights that the increase in vaping prevalence has been accompanied by a decline in cigarette smoking, “something to be celebrated given the health harms caused by smoking .” However, Hamilton notes vaping is not risk-free, and highlights issues with Trading Standards’ enforcement of e-cigarette age restrictions: recent ASH data ([link removed]) shows “47% of 11–17-year-olds had purchased vaping products from shops” in the past year, despite UK law prohibiting the sale of nicotine containing e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.

However, despite concerns over an increase in adolescent vaping, Hamilton argues current data does not support claims vaping may act as “gateway drug” to smoking, in the same way that cannabis has not been shown to be a gateway to heroin use.

Hamilton notes that it is impossible to know what long-term health effects may emerge in current vapers and highlights the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA)’s Yellow Card scheme as a crucial tool for tracking any emerging side effects or health impacts. He concludes by describing vaping as a “public health triumph” and urges people to be cautious “about making any assertions about the harms of vaping.”

Source: The Independent, 6 September 2022
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Read Article ([link removed])


** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary questions

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** PQ1/2: Electronic cigarettes: Young people

Asked by Alexander Stafford, Conservative, Rother Valley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , with reference to the independent review by Dr Javed Khan OBE on preventing youth access to vaping products, whether his Department plans to provide funding for the implementation of the recommendation on promoting vaping as an effective tool to help people quit smoking tobacco.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , with reference to the independent review entitled the Khan review: making smoking obsolete, published in June 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's recommendations on restricting the use of youth-appealing (a) packaging and (b) flavour naming for e-cigarettes.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Minister for Vaccines and Public Health

We are considering the recommendations made by the Khan Review, including measures to protect children and young people from starting vaping and how vaping can be promoted as an effective tool to help people quit smoking tobacco. We are assessing a range of options, including the potential benefits of banning cartoon characters, images and flavour names which might be appealing to children.

In response to the Review, we will publish a new Tobacco Control Plan in due course, including any potential funding proposals related to vaping.

PQ3/4: Electronic cigarettes: Children/Young People

Asked by Alexander Stafford, Conservative, Rother Valley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the underage use of e-cigarettes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper by Action and Smoking and Health entitled Use of e-cigarettes among young people in Great Britain 2022, published on 7 July 2022.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Minister for Vaccines and Public Health

The Government supports the use of vapes or e-cigarettes solely as a tool for adult smokers trying to quit smoking. We strongly discourage the use among children and young people.Regulations in the United Kingdom aim to prevent the uptake of vaping by children and young people. These include restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising; requirements on the messaging on packaging and labelling; sales bans to under 18 year olds; and limits on tank sizes and nicotine content. We are currently exploring additional measures to protect children and young people from starting vaping and we will set out further action in due course.

PQ5/6: Electronic cigarettes: Environment protection/Testing

Asked by Alexander Stafford, Conservative, Rother Valley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to assess the environmental sustainability of disposable e-cigarettes when reviewing product notifications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ([link removed]) , whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency conducts physical tests on product samples when it scrutinises notified e-cigarette products.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Minister for Vaccines and Public Health

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) do not assess the environmental sustainability of vapes or e-cigarettes when reviewing product notifications. However, producers of vapes placing more than five tonnes of such equipment on the United Kingdom market each year are obliged to register with the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme.

If producers do not register with this scheme, the Environment Agency can take enforcement action. We are working with the Environment Agency to remind vape suppliers of the regulations related to the WEEE scheme and encourage registration.

While the MHRA is responsible for assessing data submitted by suppliers through the notification of products, this does not include testing products. Prior to submitting a notification, data must meet the minimum mandatory requirements, including declarations requiring the producer to take full responsibility for the product. Once these automated mandatory checks have been confirmed, the submission can be assessed by the MHRA for compliance with the regulations.
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**
Source: Hansard, 5 September 2022
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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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