Session 4: 2021 Seminars

10:00 - 10:05

Welcome from the Chair

10:05 - 10:20

Nicotine policy in England: Recent developments and Future plans to make smoking obsolete

The pandemic has resulted in big changes in public health. Not only have structures changed as PHE transitions to the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), but smoking behaviours have been in turmoil and the data on a new respiratory virus has had complex implications for smoking and health.  The Summit comes just after the publication of NICE guidance that will offer the clearest advice yet on providing e-cigarettes as a stop smoking aid which will result in revisions to the UK’s  CLeaR Tobacco Control system-led improvement tools. This talk will focus on the role of e-cigarettes in context of the UK’s comprehensive tobacco control environment that looks to maximise the opportunities for smoking cessation while managing risks.  It will look at other developments such as the recent Cochrane review, AJPH paper and John Newton's editorial in response

10:20 - 10:35

England – the frontrunner on vaping, not the outlier

ASH welcomed the MHRA enhanced guidance on medical licensing for e-cigs supported by the Chief Executive of the MHRA. We agreed with the Secretary of State for Health who said, “Opening the door to a licensed e-cigarette prescribed on the NHS has the potential to tackle the stark disparities in smoking rates across the country, helping people stop smoking wherever they live and whatever their background.” However, the new guidance has been criticised from both sides. England was called the “outlier” by some, yet again too “laissez-faire on vaping”, others said that in fact the new guidance was not a step forward but a step back and would make it harder not easier for companies seeking a medicinal licence. This talk will look at why the process is the way it is, and the potential it has to change the shape of vaping, not just in the UK but also worldwide.

10:35 - 10:50

The 2021 review of NICE’s tobacco guidelines

NICE – the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. NICE's role is to improve outcomes for people using the NHS and other public health and social care services and produces evidence-based recommendations developed by independent committees, including professionals and lay members, and consulted on by stakeholders. The NICE Tobacco Guidelines expert committee was chaired by Paul Lincoln, OBE and consolidated 13 previously separate pieces of NICE tobacco guidance and updated areas where there was new research evidence. E-cigarettes was one of the areas of these reviews and the new comprehensive Guidance should be launched on 30 November 2021. In this session Paul will outline the new NICE recommendations on e- cigarettes including updated advice for healthcare professionals on what to say to smokers about vaping and the evidence base and rationale that underpins them.

Speaker

  • Paul Lincoln OBE Chair - Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating tobacco dependence - (NICE) National Institute of Clinical and Health Excellence -
10:50 - 11:05

Combustible Tobacco Age-of-Sale Laws: An Opportunity?

Tobacco-21 is the law of the land in the United States and appears to be having the beneficial effect of reducing tobacco use among 18-20 year-olds, so is an important improvement over the status quo. However, is raising age of sales laws for all tobacco products optimal, or could additional benefit accrue to raising the age of sale for combustibles only? This concept could take the form of a Combustible-21 only law (similar to some European countries having separate ages for beer and liquor), or a law preventing the legal purchase of combustibles for people born after a certain date (as is currently being considered in New Zealand).

Speaker

  • Dr Michael Pesko Health Economist & Associate Professor - Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
11:05 - 11:20

AM BREAK

11:20 - 11:35

The potential role of the cigarette industry in the future of the e-cigarette market

In this session, Prof Levy will discuss the history of the cigarette market vis-à-vis other nicotine products distinguishing the period before and after e-cigarettes became more widely used. The role of the industry in the e-cigarette market will be given special attention. Finally, the current and potential future role of the cigarette industry will be discussed and the factors that are likely to influence that role. Cigarettes have historically not faced any competition. E-cigarettes have forced them to take a different approach.  Has the USA PMTA process handed the monopoly back to the cigarette industry.

Speaker

  • Prof David Levy Professor of Oncology - Lombardl Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University
11:35 - 12:10

Panel discussion and live Q&A

Is the UK a trailblazer or outlier - how will we know?

Speakers

  • Dr Michael Pesko Health Economist & Associate Professor - Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
  • Prof David Levy Professor of Oncology - Lombardl Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University
12:10 - 12:50

LUNCH