£2m
spent on
cessation
Expenditure on smoking cessation advertising campaigns by Public Health
England in 2017-18 was £1.99 million, according to Steve Brine, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care. The Winchester MP, who has been
vocal of his support of e-cigarettes as a means to quitting smoking, revealed the
amount spent in response to a query from Harrow East MP Bob Blackman.
Campaign spending is defined as covering only media spend, which covers
expenditure for advertising on television, radio, the national press, regional
press, outdoors, in cinemas and digital. The Department of Health’s spending on
recruitment advertising and media partnerships are not included in this figure.
Praise for
Birmingham
Smoking rates in Birmingham have reached
the lowest level on record, according to
figures from Public Health England. The
figures, which are taken from the latest Annual
Population Survey, show that only 14 percent
of adults in Birmingham were smokers in 2017
– that’s a five percent drop since 2011, when
the first figures were released. This means
that over 37,000 people in the UK’s second
city quit smoking in the last six years. National
smoking levels have also seen a five percent
drop, with 15 percent of adults smoking in
2017, compared to 19 percent in 2011.
One last push
President Donald Trump has backed the Food and Drug Administration’s
plans to restrict e-cigarette sales across the US. In what will be one
of his final actions on the so-called teen vaping epidemic, out-going
FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb motioned for the sales of flavoured
nicotine pods to be limited to websites, vape shops and other retailers
that impose age restrictions. The proposed measures, if passed, were
announced in March and would crack down on fruit flavours specifically,
which the FDA has long campaigned are appealing to underage users.
The policy on other popular flavours such as tobacco and menthol is not
understood to be affected.
‘I do’ with a chance of clouds
These days it seems that there’s a wedding trend for everything, from
retro photobooths to pets as ringbearers and now vaping is in the mix.
If you’re a dedicated vaper, perhaps you’ll take inspiration from the
other vape-obsessed brides and grooms out there who have made their
weddings an extension of their favourite vape hangout. Some reception
venues now feature full vape bars, providing guests with the ultimate
sampling palette of tasty flavours. But one of the biggest vape-related
wedding trends of this season seems to be the photography, as couples
capture their nuptials amidst voluminous clouds. The popular trend has
produced some decidedly creative pictures.
New research
A new study shows e-cigarettes “induce
less biological responses associated with
cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases
than cigarettes.” The research demonstrates
that after six months, e-cigarettes both with
and without nicotine induced a significantly
lower biological response associated with
cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases
compared to cigarette smoke. The study,
conducted in collaboration with Altria Group,
Inc., assessed the biological response of
mice exposed to e-cigarette vapors compared
with that of exposure to cigarette smoke. The
full results of the study will be submitted for
publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Do more,
with more
Preliminary insights from the Centre for Health Research and Education
suggest a serious disconnect between what is official policy and the
advice smokers actually get from their clinicians. Dr Pooja Patwardhan,
GP and Medical Director of the Centre for Health Research and
Education in Hampshire said: “Enabling and empowering GPs is crucial
to complementing existing tobacco control measures in realising the
goal of a smoke-free UK. A GP’s ‘very brief advice’ intervention could be
crucial to tipping a smoker’s motivation towards a quit attempt and the
difference between a success and failure!”
VAPER EXPO SHOWGUIDE | 31