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Fruity vapes that lure in children could be banned
The government has pledged to clamp down on children’s access to vapes, with reports that ministers are considering a ban on brightly coloured, disposable, fruit-flavoured products.
Campaigners for and against further restrictions have urged better enforcement of current laws that ban the sale of vapes to children.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “While vaping is a preferable alternative to smoking for adults, we are concerned about the rise in youth vaping, particularly the increasing use of disposable vaping products. We are exploring a range of measures to address this, including clamping down on children accessing vapes illegally, and those who are getting them hooked on nicotine. It’s right for the government to do all it can to protect children from addiction.”
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said that she was pleased the government was “finally” heeding its warnings about “gaping loopholes in the regulation of vapes”. ASH has recommended increasing tax on cheap disposable vapes to make them less affordable and banning brightly coloured packaging featuring cartoon characters and names like “tutti frutti”.
Arnott said: “Vaping is for adults wanting to quit smoking. It’s unnecessary and unacceptable for vapes to be packaged like children’s sweets, but new regulation will take time. What is needed immediately is additional funding to help Trading Standards enforce the existing laws banning sales to under-18s.”
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, rejected a tax on disposable vapes in the budget but the government is now expected to set out a combination of new restrictions on products deemed attractive to children, alongside tougher enforcement of age rules.
Source: The Times, 30 March 2023
See also: ASH – Resources on youth vaping
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UK’s smoking hotspots mapped
The Express has mapped regional smoking rates based on ONS statistics:
The latest figures show 12.7% of Britons smoked in 2021, but a closer investigation reveals just how widely this figure varies across the country.
As a proportion of the general population, Oadby and Wigston – a small local authority covering the two suburban towns to the southeast of Leicester – was found to have the lowest smoking rate of all at just 3.2%.
At the bottom of the list, the council was followed by West Oxfordshire (3.7%), Waverley (4.4%) and Sevenoaks (4.8%). Only these four areas were below the Government’s desired threshold of less than 5%.
The most smokers per capita in the country is in Fenland, Cambridgeshire, where 27.8% smoke. The area is one of only two remaining boroughs in the country where over a quarter of the population smoke, alongside Hastings (25.8%).
With residents of Fenland more than eight times more likely to be smokers than the residents of Oadby and Wigston, the local authority has hosted numerous campaigns to tackle the issue. Research by the Wisbech Primary Care Network found 22 young people in Cambridgeshire start smoking every week – equivalent to 1,141 a year.
Responsible for approximately 74,600 deaths a year in England alone, according to research by ASH, smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness, proven to harm “nearly every organ of the body”. About half of all lifelong smokers die prematurely, the charity claims – losing an average of ten years of life.
Source: Express, 29 March 2023
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US: Kansas set to become latest state to raise age for buying tobacco to 21
Kansas moved toward raising the legal age for buying tobacco in the state to 21 on Tuesday, a move already made by the majority of US states.
The state Senate passed a bill to raise the required age by a 28-11 vote after the state’s House approved it earlier this month. The bill will now be sent to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) desk for approval.
Congress raised the Minimum Legal Sales Age on all tobacco products from 19 to 21 when it passed the Tobacco 21 law in December 2019. However, in order for states to receive federal funding for substance abuse prevention programs, they need to increase their own legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21.
Forty other states and Washington, D.C., have already increased the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to Kansas, the CDC lists Alaska, Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin as the states that have not raised their legal age yet.
Source: The Hill, 29 March 2023
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Report: Health and Social Care Committee - Integrated Care Systems: autonomy and accountability
The Health and Social Care Committee have today published their report, outlining the findings of their inquiry into how well Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are fulfilling the Government’s goal to:
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improve outcomes in population health and healthcare
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tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
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enhance productivity and value for money
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help the NHS support broader social and economic development
The report states, “ICSs have been designed to support a focus on longer-term issues, like population health and tackling health inequalities. In reality, they will need to balance this with the often intense short-term, operational challenges. The nature of such challenges means there is a risk that they will dominate ICS capacity and resources. This tension needs to be recognised by DHSC and NHS England, and they must make active efforts to ensure ICSs have the capacity they need to focus on public health and prevention. It needs to be clear to ICSs, at this early stage of their development but also as they evolve, that they will get the necessary national support to pursue longer-term work. A refreshed version of the NHS Long Term Plan would be a good opportunity to provide that confidence. We recommend that any update to the Long-Term Plan, and the pending Major Conditions Strategy, put prevention and long-term transformation at its heart. We also believe that all Integrated Care Boards must include a public health professional or public health director.”
Source: Health and Social Care Committee, 30 March 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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