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London: New Year, New You campaign launches to help City residents quit smoking
The City’s New Year, New You campaign has opened up across the Square Mile, and Hackney, to help residents quit smoking.
New Year, New You provides anyone who lives, works or studies in the City or is registered at The Neaman Practice access to nicotine replacement therapy and free one-to-one support with a stop smoking adviser for up to 12 weeks.
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Community and Children’s Services Committee, Ruby Sayed, said: “Thousands of people have already quit smoking using Smokefree City & Hackney and you can quit too. Not only will you save yourself money, but you will feel fitter and healthier.
“The service offers free one-to-one support from our advisers and, if you don’t pay for prescriptions, free nicotine replacement therapy. Giving up smoking is hard but with support and nicotine replacement therapy, or a vape, you are three times more likely to quit successfully.”
Source: City Matters, 10 January 2023
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Middle East: In Jordan, cigarettes still reign over other smoking alternatives
Cigarettes still top sales in the Jordanian smoking market, outperforming alternatives including electronic cigarettes, Hala News reported. Dr Bassam Hijjawi, head of the Jordanian National Anti-Smoking Society, confirmed that among smokers in Jordan, those who use tobacco products make up 41 percent. Meanwhile, those who use e-cigarettes make up 17.1 percent of smokers.
Men smoke the most in Jordan compared to women, with men amounting to 65.3 percent of those who use tobacco products. Women make up 16.4 percent.
On average, people start smoking in Jordan when they reach 20. However, the average age of those who smoke is 17 for men and 24 for women. The average number of cigarettes smoked between the two genders is 21 cigarettes per day.
A World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2022 revealed that Jordanian families spend more money on smoking per month than they do on food. It said some families spend JD73.6 per month on smoking, compared to JD26.6 per month for fruits, JD38.2 per month for dairy and eggs, JD42.1 for vegetables and legume and JD50.4 for meat and poultry. According to a WHO survey, Jordan ranks first in the world in smoking; 82 percent of smokers, aged 18 to 69, smoke cigarettes and hookah, and 15 percent use e-cigarettes.
Source: Jordan News, 11 January 2023
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USA: Wisconsin cigarette sales go up in smoke over 20 years
Cigarette sales in Wisconsin plummeted over the past 20 years, fuelled by higher taxes and smoking bans, a report released on Wednesday showed.
The number of packs of cigarettes purchased in the state dropped from 420 million in 2001 to just under 193 million in 2022, the Wisconsin Policy Forum report said. On a per capita basis, more than 32 packs of cigarettes were sold per resident in 2022 compared with nearly 78 in 2001.
During that time span, a state-wide smoking ban took effect, taxes were increased on cigarettes three times and there was a growth in substitute products like vaping, the report noted. The state-wide smoking ban, which included bars and restaurants, took effect in 2011. State taxes were increased in 2002, 2008 and 2009, while federal taxes also increased in 2002 and 2009.
That report details only legally purchased cigarettes. It notes that due to higher taxes in Wisconsin, some smokers may have illegally smuggled cigarettes or legally purchased them in other states where taxes are lowered.
Wisconsin’s current tax on a pack of cigarettes is $2.52, above the median of $1.78 and 16th highest.
Source: AP, 11 January 2023
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Written question
Asked by Abena Oppong-Asare, Labour, Erith and Thamesmead
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce the rate of infant mortality and (b) increase the number of full-time members of staff specialising in bereavement care; and if he will make an assessment of the reasons for trends in the level of infant mortality in the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
To reduce the rate of stillbirth and neonatal morality we have introduced targeted interventions such as the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the National Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme.
Saving Babies’ Lives Version Two combines five elements of care, reducing smoking in pregnancy, risk assessment, prevention and surveillance of pregnancies at risk of fetal growth restriction, raising awareness of reduced fetal movement, effective fetal monitoring during labour and reducing preterm birth. The National Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement programme aims to improve the safety and outcomes of maternal and neonatal care by reducing unwarranted variation and provide a high-quality healthcare experience for all women, babies and families across maternity and neonatal care settings in England.
Between 2016 and 2020, the infant mortality rate decreased by 5.3%, from 3.8 to 3.6%, per 1,000 live births. In 2020, the rate for male was higher at 4.0% than for female 3.2%.
Source: Hansard, 9 January 2023
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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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