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Health secretary announces plans for ‘major conditions’ strategy
The Government will set out a strategy to tackle six major conditions contributing to England’s burden of disease, the health secretary has announced. In a statement to Parliament, Barclay listed these major conditions as cancers; cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal disorders. Tackling these conditions is “critical” to achieving the Government’s manifesto commitment of gaining five extra years of healthy life expectancy by 2035, and its ‘levelling up’ mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030, he said.
Although light on detail, Barclay’s announcement set out that the forthcoming strategy would aim towards patients with multiple long-term conditions receiving “whole-person” care, with a greater focus on “generalist medical skills” in the NHS workforce. He said: “Our workforce model needs to adapt, reflecting that the NHS is caring for patients with increasingly complex needs and with multiple long-term conditions. We need greater emphasis on generalist medical skills to complement existing deep specialist expertise in the NHS, supporting clinical professionals to heal with whole-person care.” By shifting the focus to “good health” and “early intervention”, this will “reduce demand downstream on health and care services”, Barclay pledged.
The plans will see health and care services, local Government and NHS bodies will be required to “work ever more closely together” in order for the people of England to live “healthy, fulfilled, independent and longer lives”.
Barclay noted that people living in England’s most deprived places “live, on average, 19 fewer years in good health than those in the least deprived places”. Therefore, the strategy will set out interventions that the Government can make “to ensure that ICSs and the organisations within them maximise the opportunities to tackle clusters of disadvantage in their local areas where they exist, " and be informed by the ongoing review into ICSs led by former health secretary Patricia Hewitt he said.
However, the health secretary’s announcement comes as he has yet to publish the Government’s long-awaited white paper on health disparities, produced last year. The RCGP and BMA were among 155 organisations to urge the Government to recommit to publishing the white paper in October last year.
Professor Azeem Majeed, professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, said: ‘We have seen a worsening of many health outcomes in England in the last year [...] The prevention, early diagnosis and management of long-term conditions will play an important role in trying to improve health outcomes. The management of long-term conditions should not therefore be overlooked when there is so much attention on urgent care in the NHS and it’s encouraging to see the Government focusing on this area.”
Source: Pulse Today, 24 January 2023
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American Lung Association yearly report published
Although fewer US adults are smoking cigarettes than ever, smoking remains the cause of the most preventable disability and death. The American Lung Association annual State of Tobacco Control report, published on Wednesday, gives the federal government an A grade for its media campaigns that encourage people to quit smoking, or to avoid starting in the first place, however gives the government a failing grade for its tobacco tax policy.
Congress hasn’t raised federal tobacco taxes in 14 years despite being considered one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking, particularly among children. The federal cigarette tax remains $1.01 per pack, and taxes vary for other tobacco products. No state increased its cigarette taxes in 2022, either.
Cigarette smoking rates among adults in 2022 were the lowest ever recorded, however among some populations including Native Americans, Alaska Natives and members of the LGBTQ community – rates remain “alarmingly high,” according to the report.
The report revealed that for the first time in a decade, there were significant increases in funding for state programs that prevent or reduce tobacco use. Eight states increased funding for tobacco control programs by $1 million or more, but most states do not meet the level of funding the CDC recommends. Quit attempts in states that expanded Medicaid increased by more than 20%, research shows. But eleven states still refuse to expand Medicaid.
Source: CNN News, 25 January 2023
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Oral questions: Excess deaths: policy implications
Alex Cunningham MP, Stockton North
According to Cancer Research and Action on Smoking and Health, smoking costs the NHS in Stockton £9 million a year and social care £5 million a year, and it costs some £47 million in lost productivity, unemployment and premature deaths. Assuming that one day soon we will get the Government to back a control plan, will Ministers ensure that it includes the desperately needed funding for local smoking cessation services?
Maria Caulfield, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Local decisions on public health are taken by local commissioning groups and local authorities, and it is for each local area to decide how it spends the money on public health.
Source: Hansard, 24 January 2023
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Written answer: Smoking: health education
Asked by Bob Blackman, Conservative, Harrow East
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on campaigns to promote the cessation of smoking in 2021-22; and how much is budgeted to be spent for that purpose in 2022-23.
Answered by Neil O'Brien, Minister for Primary Care and Public Health
Expenditure by the Department on smoking cessation promotion for the period 1 October until the end of the financial year 2021/22 was £660,000.
Budgets for the current financial year are subject to ongoing review to enable the Department to respond to external changes and challenges. The figures reference expenditure for advertising on television, radio, national press, regional press, out of home, social and digital advertising. However, recruitment advertising, paid search and media partnerships are not included. The spend figure for the 2022/23 will be available once costs have been consolidated after the financial year has ended.
Source: Hansard, 24 January 2023
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