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** 27 September 2022
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** UK
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** 400 people in UK diagnosed with preventable cancer every day, data shows (#1)
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** PM chief of staff Mark Fullbrook no longer paid via firm, says No 10 (#2)
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** Labour follows Tories with retreat on junk food deals (#3)
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** International
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** Montenegro’s PM says organised crime used influence to oust him over raids (#4)
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** New study reveals Australian teens vaping behaviours (#5)
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** UK
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** 400 people in UK diagnosed with preventable cancer every day, data shows
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More than 400 people are being diagnosed with preventable cases of cancer every day in the UK, analysis by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) suggests, prompting health experts to urge people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

A total of 387,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2019-20, and 40% of those cases – about 155,000 – could have been avoided. Experts say hundreds of these cases could have been prevented through lifestyle changes such as eating more healthily, getting more active, maintaining a healthy weight and quitting smoking. Compared with 2017-18 data, it said there was an increase of 8,000 preventable cases.

The King’s Fund thinktank last week pointed to large variations across England in how long it took people to get test results, while there was patchy access to screening in some areas. The impact of the Covid pandemic was still being felt nationwide, with less than 60% of cancers diagnosed early, it said.

Separately, Cancer Research UK said quitting smoking would significantly reduce the number of cancer deaths linked to socioeconomic deprivation, finding that if nobody in England smoked such deaths would fall from 27,200 to 16,500.

Source: Guardian, 27 September 2022

See also: Daily Mail - Bad lifestyles lead to 400 needless cancer cases a day ([link removed])
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** PM chief of staff Mark Fullbrook no longer paid via firm, says No 10
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The prime minister's chief of staff will now be employed directly by the government instead of through a private company, Downing Street has confirmed. It follows the revelation that Mark Fullbrook was being paid through his lobbying firm, Fullbrook Strategies.

The arrangement had been criticised by the opposition and by some within the Conservative party. The Liberal Democrats had called for an urgent investigation into any possible conflicts of interest, while Labour described the reports as "shocking" and said they raised "serious questions about the new prime minister's judgement".

The news he had been receiving his salary for the role from Fullbrook Strategies, which was set up in March, came despite the firm's website saying it "has currently suspended its commercial activities". No 10 has said Mr Fullbrook will be put on a special advisor contract to avoid "any ongoing speculation". They added that all government employees, including those joining on secondment, were subject to the necessary vetting and declared their interests in line with Cabinet Office guidance.

Source: BBC News, 27 September 2022

See also: Tobacco Tactics - Crosby Textor Group ([link removed])
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** Labour follows Tories with retreat on junk food deals
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Labour has backed the government in scrapping a ban on buy one, get one free deals on junk food, saying the cost of living crisis meant it needed to pause “heavy-handed” anti-obesity rules. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said it would be “tin-eared” to introduce more regulation now and he would prefer to work with food companies on a voluntary basis.

Liz Truss is preparing to ditch rules banning promotional deals for unhealthy products, already delayed for a year, alongside scrapping a proposed 9pm watershed for advertising such foods. A review ordered by the Treasury is also likely to end in reversing the present levy on sugary drinks, which has led to big companies reformulating products to avoid the tax.

Streeting told an Institute for Government event at the Labour conference: “I don’t want to see the government abandon the sugar tax . . . it has been an effective public health measure.” But he said “not now” to further regulation, such as restricting promotions. “I do think it would be tin-eared in the middle of a cost of living crisis to go harder on food regulation and on deals for families. But that’s why I want to work in a constructive way with food and drink [companies] to see what proactively they can do.” Streeting promised a “carrot and stick” approach in which tobacco was increasingly regulated, but “we’ll do constructive dialogue on food and drink for now”.

Katharine Jenner, Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said Labour needed to clarify “what this means for their stance on policies to improve children’s health”.

Source: The Times, 27 September 2022
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** International
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** Montenegro’s PM says organised crime used influence to oust him over raids
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Montenegro’s outgoing prime minister, Dritan Abazović, defeated in a vote of no confidence on 20 August, has said he is being ousted by the political influence of organised crime after he took on cocaine and cigarette smugglers following decades of neglect from the Montenegrin government.

So far, no new governing coalition has emerged meaning Abazović remains the caretaker prime minister. It is unclear how much longer he will continue, but he said the pro-western orientation of Montenegro would not change. Abazović has only been prime minister since April but was deputy prime minister for more than a year before that, following the 2020 elections that broke the three-decade hold on power of the Democratic party of Socialists, led by the president, Milo Đukanović.

In August 2021, through cooperation with Europol and western intelligence agencies, Abazović oversaw the seizure of 1.4 tonnes of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment, the biggest ever seizure in the Balkans. Another half tonne was seized in January this year.

In May, after he became prime minister, Montenegrin security services seized 148,000 packets of smuggled cigarettes, in what he described as the biggest such haul in European history.

After losing the vote of no confidence in August, Abazović handed over a dossier on the cigarette smuggling industry to the state prosecutor. Vesna Medenica, who was the head of Montenegro’s supreme court for 17 years, was arrested in April and charged with covering up her son’s alleged cocaine and cigarette smuggling operations. She denies any wrongdoing.

Source: Guardian, 25 September 2022
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** New study reveals Australian teens vaping behaviours

A new study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health aiming to track teenagers’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about using vapes (e-cigarettes) found teenagers are readily accessing flavoured, disposable vaping products.

Funded by the Cancer Council NSW, the federal Department of Health and Ageing, the NSW Ministry of Health, the Cancer Institute NSW and the Minderoo Foundation, it uses data from the first wave of the Generation Vape research project, a three-year study with Australian teenagers, young adults, parents and guardians of teenagers, and secondary school teachers.

The survey of over 700 teenagers who were 14-17 years old from New South Wales found 32% had ever vaped . Of these, more than half (54%) had never previously smoked. It found most teens (70%) didn’t directly buy the last vape they used, with the majority (80%) getting it from their friends.

Of the teens who had ever vaped and reported the type of device they used, 86% had used a disposable vape. Teens rated “flavourings and taste” as the most important characteristic of vapes they used. Some teens reported they were unsure whether they had used a vape containing nicotine (27%) or not.

Disposable vapes containing nicotine can only be legally sold in Australia by pharmacies to adult users with a valid prescription. The researchers have called for strong and immediate policy action, warning that the most popular devices are designed to be highly appealing to young people, with a focus on flavours and colours.

Source: The Conversation, 26 September 2022

See also: Study - Vaping product access and use among 14–17-year-olds in New South Wales: a cross-sectional study ([link removed])

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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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