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** 16 January 2024
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** UK
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** Disposable vapes: Sheffield City Council calls for government ban (#1)
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** Councils in crisis: Town Hall debt levels staggering, MPs warn (#2)
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** Anti-smoking drug cytisine ‘that doubles your chances of quitting’ will be available on the NHS in just days (#3)
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** International
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** Fears Australia's world-first vaping crackdown will drive more people to smoke cigarettes (#4)
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** UK
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** Disposable vapes: Sheffield City Council calls for government ban

Sheffield City Council has called on the government to ban the sale of single-use disposable vapes.

The council's leader Tom Hunt has sent a letter to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins this week over concerns about youth vaping.

In the letter, Mr Hunt said disposable vapes should no longer be available to protect children and the environment.

The council said while it recognised vapes could help adults quit smoking, it wanted to prevent children from being "enticed by harmful products".

It said "colourful, child-friendly packaging" and advertisements to target and appeal to children were "wholly inappropriate".

Mr Hunt added: "In addition, the environmental impact of disposal single-use vapes is too significant to not take action.

"This is why we are putting pressure on the government to do what they can to protect children from harm and to protect the environment by banning the sale of single-use disposable vapes."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We have already consulted on ways to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children and young people, and the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce the first smoke-free generation and tackle the issue of youth vaping, saving lives and protecting our children.

"We are also increasing investment for our enforcement agencies by £30m per year, alongside £3m over two years to Trading Standards to tackle illegal and underage vape sales."

According to a survey by charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the proportion of children experimenting with vaping grew by 50% from 2022 to 2023, from one in 13 to one in nine.

The charity said children's awareness of the promotion of vapes had also grown, particularly in shops where more than half of all children reported seeing e-cigarettes being promoted.

The 2023 survey used responses from 2,656 participants aged 11 to 18.

Source: BBC News, 16 January 2024

See also: ASH - Policy options to tackle the issue of disposable (single use) vapes ([link removed])
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** Councils in crisis: Town Hall debt levels staggering, MPs warn

The debt mountain at UK councils has reached staggering levels, posing a risk to local services, the Public Accounts Committee has said.

BBC analysis shows UK councils owe a combined £97.8bn to lenders, equivalent to £1,100 per person, as of September.

Council leaders say years of under-funding have forced them to invest in commercial ventures.

The comments come as town hall leaders have started to reveal stark draft budgets for the coming financial year.

Major cuts are being planned at Thurrock, Woking and Nottingham City Councils - all of which have effectively gone bust over the last two years, at least in part, due to failed commercial investments.

The BBC's Shared Data Unit found that, while the combined debt amounted to £1,141 per person, some councils had borrowed well over and above that level.

A total of 38 councils (10%) had no borrowing at all - but at Woking the debt figure was nearly £19,000 per person, the highest in the country.

The Surrey district council's debt is expected to rise to £2.6bn having committed to spending £605m on the Victoria Square skyscrapers in its town centre and £495m on the failed 1,000 home Sheerwater housing development scheme - which was canned in October.

The council has proposed £12m in cuts next year, including the removal of all public toilets, a phased three-year closure of a swimming pool and the ending of funding for a theatre.

A spokesperson for the authority said it had published a recovery plan and had launched an external review into the investment decisions it made.

In September, Credit Rating agency Moody's warned that other councils were likely to go bust due to a combination of poor governance, large borrowing levels and the falling value of commercial property.

Most of the borrowing for investment comes from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), an arm of the Treasury, which uses public money to hand out long-term loans at a low rate of interest.

Some councils have millions of pounds worth of debt related to a legislation change in 2012 that allowed them to effectively buy out the social housing stock in their area.

A spokesman for the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said the government had tightened rules on lending through the PWLB.

He said: "Councils are ultimately responsible for their own finances, but we are very clear they should not put taxpayers' money at risk by taking on excessive debt.

"The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act provides new powers for central government to step in when councils take excessive risk with borrowing and investment."

Source: BBC News, 16 January 2024
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** Anti-smoking drug cytisine ‘that doubles your chances of quitting’ will be available on the NHS in just days

A drug that can double your chance of stopping smoking will be dished out on the NHS under plans to boost quit rates.

Health chiefs will push for clinics to prescribe the pill cytisine to hardcore smokers from April.

The medicine is years old but was previously unavailable on the NHS, with supplies starting later this month.

Medical watchdog, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, is midway through a review that could recommend it as an option for Brits trying to kick the habit.

A recent study found smokers are more than twice as likely to quit if they take it.

Cytisine mimics the effect of nicotine in the brain to stop cravings and dull the sensation of taking a drag on a cigarette.

The Department of Health will urge local councils to prescribe the pills from the spring with the help of a £70million funding boost that will double smoking services’ budget for the next financial year.

Tory MP Bob Blackman, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, said: “This new medication will increase smokers’ chances of successfully quitting.

“Most smokers want to quit but it’s highly addictive and success rates without support are low.

“Additional funding for the Stop Smoking Services will ensure 360,000 smokers get the help they need to quit this year.”

A 25-day course of cytisine for one person costs £115 but patients will pay only the standard prescription charge, currently £9.65.

A review of 12 studies on cytisine, by the Centro Nacional de Intoxicaciones in Argentina, found smokers were 2.25 times more likely to kick the habit if they took cytisine compared to a placebo pill.

Hazel Cheeseman, from campaign group Action on Smoking and Health, added: “This can help more smokers to stop and move us close to a country where no-one smokes anymore.

“However, it won’t be available everywhere straight away and if you can’t get it you can still try and quit using nicotine replacement therapy or vapes, which are just as effective.”

Source: The Sun, 15 January 2024

See also: De Santi, O, Orellana M, Andrea C, Greco V. “Evaluation of the effectiveness of cytisine for the treatment of smoking cessation: A systematic review and meta‐analysis”. ([link removed]) Addiction. Dec 2023

NCSCT – Cytisine briefing ([link removed])
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** International
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** Fears Australia's world-first vaping crackdown will drive more people to smoke cigarettes

Australia's world-first crackdown on vaping could drive more people to smoke tobacco or use black market vapes, a Health Department analysis has warned.

New legislation introduced from January 1 bans the sale of nicotine vapes in specialised retailers and convenience stores.

Now, Australians will need to seek a prescription from their GP to buy a vape from a chemist.
However, this is estimated to require almost one million GP appointments for 450,000 Australians, at a time when the medical industry is suffering from a lack of doctors and bulk billing services.

The report also warns that it's possible there could also be shortages of medical vape suppliers to fill the void.

'If access to nicotine-containing vapes were to be significantly restricted there is a risk that Australians addicted to nicotine may seek alternative products to meet cravings, such as tobacco,' the report said.

Daily Mail Australia proved the trade in the now illegal vapes continues openly across Australia despite his import ban on disposable vapes coming into force.

Selling nicotine vapes has been illegal since 2021 under laws introduced by the previous Morrison government, but many retailers have brazenly continued to sell them illegally, with some falsely labelling them as being nicotine free.

In an attempt to fix the loopholes in the previous legislation and crackdown on the supply of vapes at convenience stores, Health minister Mark Butler introduced a nationwide ban on the importation of disposable vapes on January 1.

Source: Daily Mail, 15 January 2024

See also: Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care - Proposed reforms to the regulation of vapes: Impact Analysis ([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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