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** 27 October 2023
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** UK
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** Rishi Sunak set to put crime and energy at heart of King’s Speech (#1)
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** West Oxfordshire sees second highest smoking decrease in UK (#2)
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** Dementia could affect 1.7m people in England and Wales by 2040, data finds (#3)
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** Link of the week
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** North East public support for a smokefree generation (#4)
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** Blog: (#5) The Autumn Statement: playing with fire? (#5)
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** E-cigarette summit (#6) 2023 (#6)
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** UK
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** Rishi Sunak set to put crime and energy at heart of King’s Speech

Rishi Sunak is expected to put crime and energy at the heart of his final legislative King’s Speech next month, along with the potential creation of an independent football regulator.

The King’s Speech on November 7 is a crucial moment for Sunak, who may now be at the halfway point of his premiership, as well as marking a debut as monarch for King Charles at the state opening of parliament. This time the legislative package has to meet a number of tests.

The first test, ordained by chief whip Simon Hart, is that any legislation does not provoke splits among Conservative MPs, who are already jittery about the prospect of losing their seats to Labour and other opposition parties next year.

Senior government figures said that a long-promised bill to ban sexual orientation and gender identity conversion therapy, a highly emotive subject, will “definitely not” be making its way on to the statute book.

The final legislative package of this parliament will also be constrained by time. “People have forgotten what an election year is like,” said one cabinet member. “MPs want to be campaigning in their constituencies.”

Sunak has also promised legislation to phase out smoking, announcing plans to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1 2009 in his Tory conference speech this month.

Final decisions on the King’s Speech will be decided by the cabinet in the coming days, but the legislative package will include seven unresolved bills “rolled over” from the current session, which ended on Thursday. Downing Street declined to comment.

Source: The Financial Times, 26 October 2023

See also: DHSC - Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation ([link removed])
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** West Oxfordshire sees second highest smoking decrease in UK

An Oxfordshire area saw the second highest national decrease in smokers between 2018 and 2021, according to a recent study.

The West Oxfordshire district observed a 65.4% decrease in smokers between 2018 and 2021, which worked out to a total loss of 7488 smokers.

South Hams in Devon was found to have the largest decrease in smokers, down by 70.5% since 2022 which amounted to a decrease of approximately 10,366 people.

A spokesperson for Go Smoke Free commented: “Although there has been a 6.1% decline in smokers between 2018 and 2021 across the UK, there are still several areas that are reporting an uptake in people identifying as smokers.

“With 1st October marking the start of Stoptober throughout the UK, these regional differences in smoking prevalence underscore the importance of continued research and awareness campaigns to address these differences effectively.”

In 2020 Oxfordshire County Council announced plans for Oxfordshire to become England’s first ‘smoke-free’ county by 2025.

Source: Oxford Mail, 26 October 2023

See also: Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2022 ([link removed]) | Quit smoking this Stoptober ([link removed])
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** Dementia could affect 1.7m people in England and Wales by 2040, data finds

Dementia poses an “enormous threat” to healthcare systems and the general public in England and Wales, experts have warned, as data suggests 1.7 million people will have the condition by 2040.

It is already known to be among the most serious health and social care threats and a new analysis shows the total number affected could be 42% higher than previously estimated.

The research was published in the Lancet public health journal. It said the “burden on health and social care might be considerably larger than currently forecast”. Led by University College London (UCL), the study updated previous work suggesting cases would reach 1.2 million people in 2040.

“Dementia incidence followed a nonlinear trend in England and Wales with a declining trend from 2002 to 2008 and an increased trend from 2008 to 2016,” the researchers wrote.

“If the upward incidence trend continues, along with population ageing, the number of people with dementia in England and Wales is projected to increase to 1.7 million in 2040.”

“Not only will this have a devastating effect on the lives of those involved but it will also put a considerably larger burden on health and social care than current forecasts predict,” said Dr Yuntao Chen, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care. “Continued monitoring of the incidence trend will be crucial in shaping social care policy.”

While researchers hunt for new treatments, Hilary Evans, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said ministers must ensure they take action so the burden of increased dementia risk “does not unfairly weigh” on the most deprived communities.

“We want people to know the steps they can take to reduce their own risk of developing dementia, such as keeping a healthy heart, staying connected and staying sharp,” she added.

Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2023

See also: The Lancet Public Health Journal - Dementia incidence trend in England and Wales, 2002–19, and projection for dementia burden to 2040 ([link removed](23)00214-1/fulltext)
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** Link of the week
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** North East public support for a smokefree generation

Fresh have developed videos showcasing public support for a smokefree generation. People across the North East took part to have their say on ending the biggest cause of cancer and creating a smokefree generation.

The videos reveal strong endorsement for creating a smokefree future and hopefully one day ending deaths from smoking related disease, with one interviewee simply stating, “it would be amazing”.
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** Supporting a “smokefree generation”: [link removed]
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** Ending our biggest cause of cancer: [link removed]
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Blog: The Autumn Statement: playing with fire?

Writing in the King’s Fund , Richard Murray, the Chief Executive of the King’s Fund, discusses the upcoming Autumn statement and what it could mean for the NHS and social care. Murray welcomes plans such as the long term workforce plan and the recent announcements on reducing the harm of tobacco on future generations, which demonstrate commitment to long term thinking, but argues that a “general lack of long-term planning over the last decade” means there are still a lot of challenges as we approach the winter season.

Source: The King’s Fund, 25 October 2023

See also: NHS – DHSC – Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])


** E-cigarette summit 2023

The annual E-cigarette Summit will return to the Royal College of Physicians on 16th November 2023. The Summit will be a good opportunity to learn more about the latest evidence around vaping and the key considerations for policymaking. You can find out more here ([link removed]) .

See also: ASH - Use of e-cigarettes among adults in Great Britain ([link removed]) | Addressing common myths about vaping: Putting the evidence in context ([link removed])
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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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