News dall’estero 13 marzo 2018
BBC, 12/03/2018
Northamptonshire County Council: £10m public health grant probe
An investigation has begun into Northamptonshire County Council’s (CC’s) use of ringfenced public health grant funding. Allegations that ringfenced money for 2015-16 and 2016-17 was used to prop up other services is being looked into. The amount of money involved has not been confirmed but the BBC is reporting a figure of about £10m. A Northamptonshire CC spokesman confirmed discussions with Public Health England about the use of public health funding in 2015-16 and 2016-17 are taking place and added: “The council’s new director of public health [Lucy Wightman] and Public Health England are being full, open and transparent with each other in these discussions which are progressing well. We have no timescale for completing these discussions at this time.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-43257569
The Daily Mail, 13/03/2018
Research suggests children who try e-cigarettes are 12 times more likely to smoke tobacco
Researchers from King’s College London and Cancer Research UK looked at 1,152 children aged 11 to 18, who were subsequently followed for four to six months. At the beginning of the study, a total of 11.4% had tried e-cigarettes and 19.8% had used ordinary tobacco. After four and six months, those who had tried an e-cig were 12 times more likely to move on to tobacco cigarettes compared to children who had never used them. Editorial note: ASH were co-authors on this study which has previously been reported in ASH Daily News. The analysis presented in this news report is not one supported by the findings. In summary the paper doesn’t add weight to the gateway thesis. For more information see the ASH press release here.
Hartlepool Mail, 13/03/2018
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to go smokefree by March 2019
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says it has signed a national pledge to go smokefree by March 2019. The 12-month countdown officially starts tomorrow – National No Smoking Day – with the launch of a campaign to stop people smoking in the women and children’s entrance way at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. While the trust’s hospital sites are already designated as no smoking areas, the move will see the public health campaign notched up another step as it commits to routinely offering smoking cessation advice to patients and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to all inpatients, systematically recording the smoking status of all patients, with an opt-out approach to referrals for specialist support and providing smoking cessation training and stop smoking support for staff.
https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/health/hospital-sites-to-go-smoke-free-by-march-2019-1-9059419
Health Insurance Daily, 12/03/2018
People who quit smoking ‘save thousands on life cover’
People who give up smoking can save thousands of pounds on their life insurance premiums, as after 12 months those who don’t smoke or use nicotine replacement could be eligible for non-smoker premium rates. According to insurance company Royal London, a smoker aged 30 would pay £29.47 per month whereas a non-smoker would pay £14 a month. This equates to £4,641 in savings over a 25 year term. Craig Paterson, underwriting and claims philosophy manager at Royal London, said giving up smoking is the most sensible thing a smoker should try to do, as smoking is a key contributor to heart attacks, strokes and a variety of cancers. “When you stop smoking you will not only notice an improvement in your health, you will also save the money you would have spent on your daily nicotine fix. The good news is after a year smokefree you could save money on the cost of life insurance too.”
The New York Times, 12/03/2018
In low income countries, tobacco control activists face threats and violence
Eight years ago, more than a dozen men with AK-47s shot their way into Akinbode Oluwafemi’s home in Lagos, Nigeria. They killed his house guard and his brother-in-law and briefly held a muzzle to the head of one of his year-old twins. “I do not know why I was not killed that day,” said Mr. Oluwafemi, who as deputy director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria has been one of his country’s leading antismoking activists. No arrests have been made in this or similar cases, and none of the victims could prove that the men assaulting or threatening them worked for the industry. But the pattern was consistent. They were first quietly warned that they were upsetting cigarette companies, tobacco farmers or government officials connected to the industry. If the activists persisted, threats or violence escalated suddenly and unpredictably.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/health/antismoking-activists-threats.html
The Australian, 12/03/2018
Australia: $16bn up in smoke as tobacco use rises for first time in decade
Consumption of cigarettes has risen for the first time in more than a decade, adding to concerns about the effectiveness of measures to reduce smoking. Expenditure on tobacco products, which has been in steady decline, rose 2.6% in the final quarter of 2017 compared with the same period a year earlier according to the latest national accounts. The Department of Health’s latest review of the national tobacco strategy said targets to reduce the smoking rate to 10% and halve smoking rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, were unlikely to be met. “While smoking rates have been on a long-term downward trend, for the first time in more than two decades the daily smoking rate did not significantly decline over the most recent three-year period,” the 2016 national drug strategy found.
