Blog

ASH Stakeholder Engagement and Networks Coordinator, Michael Carr talks about why local and regional action is so important for the implementation of the ‘Smokefree Generation’ policy, and how ASH is supporting partners and stakeholders for a coordinated effort.

Last week, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) published findings from its latest survey, generating headlines in the retail press such as ‘Research shows illegal tobacco offered to nearly a third of UK public’. The headline claim made by JTI is that 31% of people in the UK have been offered illicit tobacco.

Yvette Cooper has been appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care by the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. While her appointment marks a new chapter following her time as Foreign Secretary, it is also something of a homecoming.

ASH Public Affairs Lead Helen Duffy argues that if the PM is looking to tax "businesses that do not make a positive contribution to local communities" then big tobacco should be the top of his list. 

In this blog, ASH Senior Policy Officer Rachel Maynard explains how embedding smoking cessation into routine maternity care has driven major reductions in smoking during pregnancy, delivering better outcomes for mothers and babies and offering a model that could be applied to other areas like mental health.

The latest comparison between social media and tobacco comes courtesy of Denmark's Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, whose comments that she would "rather have [her] children smoking than allowing them to stay on their own on social media" have sparked debate.