27 January 2020

UK

NICE backs health app in addition to regular services

Store manager jailed for £760,000 tobacco fraud

International

Nepal: Authorities told to enforce anti-tobacco law

UK

NICE backs health app in addition to regular services
 

New draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) states health professionals can “consider” digital and mobile interventions to help improve people’s health. Tools such as apps and wearable devices may help people achieve health goals, according to the NICE guidelines, which will go to consultation before implementation.

Examples given include helping people get physically active, manage their weight, quit smoking, reduce alcohol intake or reduce unsafe sexual behaviour. However, NICE stressed that the effectiveness of such interventions remains unknown and recommends their use only in addition to regular health services and “not as a replacement”.

Interventions should come from a reliable source where possible such as the Couch to 5k, Change4Life Food Scanner or Smoke Free apps backed by Public Health England, added NICE.

Source: Nursing Times, 24 January 2020
Read Article

Store manager jailed for £760,000 tobacco fraud

The manager of a Halifax store has been jailed for storing and selling illegal tobacco products worth more than £760,000 in unpaid taxes.

Officers visited the shop in October 2017 and found 5,660 illicit cigarettes and 2.2 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco hidden behind a fridge. The cigarettes and tobacco were seized by officers as duty had not been paid on the goods.

HMRC officers returned to the premises in January 2018 and found more illegal tobacco hidden inside the shop counter and in a bin in the back yard. Officers then searched the owner’s home and found another 27,680 counterfeit cigarettes and 14.8 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco. Officers also found a knuckleduster and large sums of cash and notebooks, which recorded sales of 1,896,120 cigarettes and 505.9 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco dating back to May 2017.

The owner admitted excise and VAT fraud at Leeds Crown Court and was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison.

Source: Talking retail, 24 January 2020
Read Article

International

Nepal: Authorities told to enforce anti-tobacco law

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has directed all the local authorities to strictly enforce the Tobacco Product (Control and Regulatory) Act 2011, with regard to smoking in public places and advertisement of tobacco products in various forms, which are currently poorly enforced.

The Act also prohibits the sale and distribution of tobacco-related products in certain public places, including educational institutions, parks, childcare centres and homes for the elderly.

The law requires the authorities to fix a visible or readable notice in various public places indicating that smoking and tobacco consumption are strictly prohibited. According to the law, any person or firm breaching the law shall be liable to a fine ranging between Rs 100 (£0.67) and Rs 100,000 (£670.03), depending on the nature of violation.

Source: The Himalayan Times, 25 January 2020
Read Article
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here.

For more information call 020 7404 0242, email [email protected] or visit www.ash.org.uk 

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.  
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
6th Floor New House
Hatton Garden
London
EC1N 8JY

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list