Wednesday 23 December 2015 Today the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has issued an Opinion on three different legal challenges to the EU Tobacco Products Directive. [1] Advocate General Kokott has concluded that the new EU Tobacco Products Directive of 2014 was lawfully adopted, effectively dismissing all three of the legal challenges. […]
Read MoreTuesday 22 December 2015 Stopping smoking remains one of the most popular New Year resolutions and can be a life-saving decision for those who succeed. Quitting is often a challenge but the more often a person tries, the greater the chance of finally kicking the habit. Whatever your stage of life, there are good reasons […]
Read MoreFriday 18 December 2015 ASH news release: Immediate release: Friday 18th December 2015 France commits to go ahead with standardised ‘plain’ cigarette packs as Big Tobacco’s UK legal challenge draws to a close The tobacco industry’s challenge to the UK’s standardised tobacco packaging regulations is drawing to a close today and a ruling is expected […]
Read MoreTuesday 08 December 2015 The tobacco industry’s legal effort to block the introduction of standardised (“plain”) tobacco packaging in the UK starts in the High Court this Thursday (10th December). [1] The four major manufacturers (British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Limited, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris International) are challenging the UK Government and asking […]
Read MoreMonday 30 November 2015 Tonight’s Panorama programme[1] reveals detailed evidence of employees of the British American Tobacco Group making payments in Africa to politicians and civil servants in countries across east Africa. Action on Smoking and Health is calling for an urgent police inquiry into whether criminal offences have been committed under the Bribery Act […]
Read MoreWednesday 25 November 2015 Responding to the cuts in public health spending announced today in the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review [1] ASH warned that the policy was short-sighted and would cause greater pressure on NHS finances. To quote the NHS England Five Year Forward View “the future health of millions of children, the sustainability of […]
Read MoreTuesday 24 November 2015 Figures released today show that smoking rates among secondary school students in Australia have fallen to the lowest level since surveys began more than 30 years ago. In 2014, 5% per cent of 12- to 17-year olds were current smokers compared to 7% in 2011 and 2008. Among 12-year olds, 94% […]
Read MoreWednesday 28 October 2015 A new ‘Local Poverty Calculator’ published today by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) shows local councils how many people in their area are in poverty because of smoking and what an impact services to help people quit smoking can have to reduce rates of poverty [1]. The national data, first […]
Read MoreTuesday 27 October 2015 Tomorrow a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel will begin to hear a second and final round of oral arguments in claims that Australia’s tobacco plain packaging infringes WTO agreements. The hearing will take place at WTO in Geneva from 28-30 October, 2015. An initial oral hearing took place 1-5 […]
Read MoreThursday 22 October 2015 Official figures released today show that the level of tobacco smuggling in the UK in 2014/15 has not risen since last year [1] According to HM Revenue & Customs, in 2014/15 an estimated 10% of cigarettes consumed in the UK were illicit, the same figure as for 2013/14. The figures for […]
Read MoreFriday 16 October 2015 A report published today by the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group [1] calls on Government to close the gap in smoking in pregnancy rates between rich and poor. In a new review health organisations praise progress over the last few years in bringing rates down overall but argue much more must […]
Read MoreThursday 01 October 2015 Smoking in England has fallen over the past 12 months, a Government survey has found. The annual Integrated Household Survey revealed that adult smoking fell from 18.4% in 2013 to 18% in 2014. [1] However, rates of smoking remain much higher in some groups with 28% of people in routine and […]
Read MoreTuesday 29 September 2015 A raft of new regulations to protect the health of young people and curb youth smoking will enter into force in England and Wales on 1 October 2015. In addition to legislation prohibiting smoking in cars when children are present, it will also be illegal for adults to buy tobacco on […]
Read MoreTuesday 29 September 2015 Following publication today of air quality data showing significant levels of harmful tobacco smoke in the air in prisons, ASH welcomes the Government’s commitment to making prisons in England and Wales smokefree. [1] From January 2016 prisons in Wales will become smokefree. This will be followed by a cluster of prisons […]
Read MoreTuesday 15 September 2015 Dementia is a growing health problem reflecting an ageing population. Some of the risk factors such as advanced age cannot be modified to reduce the risk but others can. One of the most important of these is to stop smoking. A new ASH publication, [1] endorsed by Public Health England released […]
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