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The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is reminding retailers about the upcoming ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes which comes into force in less than four months. The European Union Revised Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) makes it an offence for manufacturers to produce menthol cigarettes and retailers to sell menthol cigarettes from 20 May 2020.
The ban also applies to capsule, click on, click & roll, crushball or dual menthol cigarettes. The ban does not apply to heated tobacco products or e-cigarette products. The revised TPD regulations came into effect in 2016 but had a longer lead in period for the ban on menthol, retailers must have sold through any remaining stock of menthol cigarettes by 20 May 2020. The UK’s exit from the European Union does not impact the introduction of the menthol ban.
ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said: “Retailers need to make sure that they understand their responsibilities in terms of implementing the ban in store, selling through existing stock and communicating the information to customers.
Source: Talking Retail, 22 January 2020
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A new health and wellbeing service rolled out across Hertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council is rolling out new 'Healthy Hubs' as part of a £1 million investment in new health and wellbeing services across the county. Healthy Hubs are dedicated local venues where people can get services, support and advice in one place.
A spokesperson said: "Whether it’s stop smoking services, help to lose weight, mental health support, encouragement to get more active or even advice on how to cut down on your drinking - your Healthy Hub can help you." All Hubs will be open by Spring 2020.
Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Prevention, Tim Hutchings said: “The Healthy Hubs are part of our District Partnership programme, through which we have already invested £2.3 million into health and wellbeing services across the county over the last five years. This new initiative will see a further £1 million invested over the next two years to enable each district to establish a Healthy Hub in their area, making it easier for people to pop in and get the friendly, professional one-to-one support they need to improve their health and wellbeing.”
Source: Hemel Today, 23 January 2020
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US: Surgeon General says ‘shocking’ portion of people aren’t told to stop smoking
The United States Surgeon General warned on Thursday 23rd January that despite the well-known health harms of cigarettes, too many smokers are not routinely advised by their doctors to quit. In a new report, the Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, urged smokers to use a range of cessation methods that have been proven effective: “Forty percent of smokers don’t get advised to quit,” Dr. Adams said in an interview, “that was a shocking statistic to me, and it’s a little embarrassing as a health professional.”
He was referring to data collected in a 2015 national health survey that was included in the 700-page report released on Thursday. “Four out of every nine adult cigarette smokers who saw a health professional during the past year did not receive advice to quit,” the report noted. Vulnerable populations in particular are not getting the help they need to stop smoking, it said, and recommended that doctors and public health officials devote more attention to offering smoking cessation assistance to gay and transgender people, Native Americans, people with mental health conditions and several other groups with high smoking rates. “The biggest take-home from this report is that far too many people who want to quit aren’t getting access to the cessation treatments that we know work,” Dr. Adams added.
Tobacco control groups welcomed the new report. Chris Bostic, deputy director for policy at Action on Smoking & Health said, “I believe society has withheld or restricted access to cessation because smokers ‘did it to themselves,’ but nearly all smokers became addicted as children, when they could not have consented to the risk.”
Source: The New York Times, 23 January 2020
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Supporting a smokefree pregnancy regional event presentations
In October and November 2019, the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group hosted five regional events with delegates from across maternity and public health teams, Local Maternity Systems and professionals with wider NHS roles.
Over 350 individuals attended the events, which aimed to share the latest evidence around supporting women to quit smoking before, during and after pregnancy. The events included national updates on the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle and NHS Long Term Plan, alongside local and regional case studies on topics including quality improvement to increase CO monitoring, implementing financial incentives and the provision of e-cigarettes.
You can now view presentations from the events on the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group page by clicking the button below.
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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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