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Stoptober: Health bosses urge people in Newcastle and Gateshead to give quitting smoking another go
As figures show more than 113,000 people in the North East have died due to smoking since 2000, health figures in Newcastle and Gateshead have thrown their weight behind the annual Stoptober campaign encouraging people to quit.
Amid the cost of living crisis, Gateshead Council's director of public health Alice Wiseman says “there’s never been a better time to stop spending on smoking” and has urged people who smoke to quit for the benefit of their health and their wallets.
She said: "The thought of quitting smoking can be daunting, especially if you’ve tried before and weren’t successful. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it – in fact, it could put you in a stronger position because you’ll have a better idea of what support you’ll need. Finding the right support for you is the best thing you can do to increase your chances of quitting successfully and there are lots of tools for you to choose from."
Councillor Karen Kilgour, Newcastle City Council's deputy leader and cabinet member with responsibility for health, said: “You will start to see the benefits of quitting smoking almost immediately, and there’s hardly a better time to do it than during Stoptober when thousands of others will be doing the same [...] It’s never too late to quit smoking. Give it a try during Stoptober and make this the time you quit smoking for good."
Ailsa Rutter, who heads up regional campaign groups Fresh and Balance, said: "Most people who smoke have tried to stop before and regret ever starting. This Stoptober is a chance for a new start. Believe in yourself and get the right support to beat the cravings – it can make all the difference."
She said that quitting might not solve money worries, but "it will ease them". Research from ASH found that smoking costs England an estimated £13.2bn a year in lost productivity and treating illnesses caused by smoking costs the NHS £2.4bn a year on top of that.
Source: Chronicle Live, 10 October 2022
See also: ASH - Ready Reckoner cost calculator
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Government ‘burying head in sand’ over health inequality, says bishop of London
The most senior female bishop in the country has accused the government of “burying its head in the sand” over “shocking” and “rampant” health inequalities. Dame Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London, spoke out after the Guardian reported that Thérèse Coffey, the health secretary, was dropping the government’s long-promised white paper on health disparities.
The document was supposed to appear months ago and form part of the government’s pledge to level up the UK to narrow the widening inequalities in health outcomes that exist between the poorest and the wealthiest, between white and black, Asian and minority ethnic people, and between those in the north and south.
Mullally, who in her previous career was England’s chief nursing officer, said: “In the quest for health outcome improvement, we can leave no man, woman or child behind [...] That is why recent reports of the shelving of the government’s health disparities white paper are tough to swallow.”
The Health Inequalities Action Group (HIAG), a multi-faith initiative led by Mullally, is expected to make 14 recommendations to tackle health inequalities when it publishes its report on health inequalities in the capital this week.
Separately, more than 155 members of the Inequalities in Health Alliance (IHA), convened by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), have signed a joint letter to Coffey urging her to publish the health disparities white paper.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has denied that Coffey has decided not to publish the white paper.
Source: Guardian, 9 October 2022
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Scotland: SNP faces unhealthy row over conference sponsors
An SNP conference fringe event due to be sponsored by the tobacco industry and right-wing thinktanks was cancelled after a challenge by ASH Scotland. Other health campaigners have similarly criticised the move to have drinks brand Coca-Cola co-sponsor an event at the conference, speaking on how the obesity crisis can be tackled by the food and drink industry.
David McColgan, chairman of non-communicable diseases (NCD) Alliance Scotland, a coalition of organisations including the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes Scotland and Obesity Action Scotland, said they were “extremely concerned that commercial industries [...] are being given the platform to speak on public health measures at the SNP conference.”
McColgan continued: “NCDs such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease and stroke are responsible for nearly 53,000 deaths every year in Scotland. At least 10,000 of these could be prevented through public health measures to tackle the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and high fat, salt and sugar food and drink. Industry and industry-funded bodies have a fundamental conflict of interest in efforts to reduce these issues and we believe have no place in the public health debate in Scotland.”
The intervention follows the last-minute cancellation of a pro-vaping event at the SNP conference sponsored by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) whose cigarette brands include Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut. It is also behind the Ploom heated tobacco brand and Logic vaping brand. JTI fiscal and regulatory affairs manager Jamie Sanders was due to speak at the event.
Sheila Duffy, ASH Scotland chief executive, welcomed a decision last week to cancel the event, adding: “Profiteering multinational tobacco corporations who promote lethal, addictive products should not have platforms in democratic forums like political party conferences to interfere in public health policy debates.”
It was to have been chaired by Daniel Pryor, head of research at the free market Adam Smith Institute, and featured Chris Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
A spokesman for the SNP said it did not organise fringe events “and as such the content of the listings and the meetings may not reflect the views of the SNP. Likewise, the SNP does not endorse the products advertised in this guide or recommend any of the services advertised.”
Source: The Times, 9 October 2022
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Scotland: shopworker sacked after Glasgow store sold vapes to 15-year-old schoolgirl
A mum has blasted a Glasgow shop after a member of staff illegally sold age-restricted vapes to her underage daughter. Following a complaint made by the mother to Trading Standards, the worker has been sacked.
After discovering vapes in her daughter’s room, the mother told the Glasgow Times: “I wanted to see for myself what was going on, so I took her straight to the store and gave her money to buy two vapes. I watched her go inside and be served. As soon as she came outside with them, I went straight inside and said to the shopkeeper that he had just sold these to a minor. She’s a kid wearing a school uniform and they thought it was appropriate to do this.”
Figures from ASH show the rate of children who admit to ever having tried vaping has also risen from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2022.
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “Any allegations of underage sales of vaping products are taken very seriously and enforcement action will be taken where necessary. Our tobacco control team has a programme of visits to retailers to provide advice and guidance on the current legislation and we also undertake test purchase operations to check on compliance at certain locations.”
Source: Glasgow Times, 8 October 2022
See also: ASH survey 2022 - Use of e-cigarettes among young people in Great Britain
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Huge haul of illegal cigarettes seized across Derby
Almost £250,000 worth of illegal cigarettes have been seized over a number of months, a council has said. Trading Standards officers in Derby said 400,000 cigarettes and more than 100kg of hand-rolling tobacco, either illicit or counterfeit, had been pulled from shelves since February as part of nationwide operation CeCe.
Derbyshire Police, which works alongside Trading Standards officers, said some illegal cigarette operations were linked to organised criminal gangs.
Derby City Council said it would "continue to clamp down" on illegal sales.
Source: BBC News, 9 October 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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