E-cigarettes may be prescribed on the NHS to help smokers quit
Whilst e-cigarettes are not risk free, they are believed to be less harmful that smoking tobacco - so ministers are considering making them available on the health service.
Doctors may soon be able to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS in a bid to help smokers give up tobacco for good.
Smokers trying to kick the habit may soon find that their GP can make an e-cigarette available to them on prescription, after the government has said it is considering making vapes available on the health service.
Guidance from the medicines regulator is due to be updated in England, and the addition of e-cigarettes is on the governments’ agenda.
If e-cigarettes were to be made available, it would be a world-first – with England becoming the first country to offer licensed vapes to patients via its health service.
Pointing to statistics that say 64,000 people died from smoking-related causes in 2019, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says the government wants to help people kick the habit – and think this is the way forward.
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Whilst vaping products are not risk-free themselves and contain nicotine, just like cigarettes, some experts do believe they are less harmful than smoking tobacco.
According to Ash.org, there are around 6.9 million adult smokers in the UK. The organisation also notes that since the 70s the proportion of people who have never smoked has increased massively – from 37.4% in 1974 to 60.4% in 2019.
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Meanwhile here ere in Manchester, it’s estimated by Manchester.gov that there are around 91,500 smokers aged 18 and over – equivalent to 21.7%.
Speaking on the plans to introduce e-cigarettes to the NHS, Mr Javid told The Mirror: “This country continues to be a global leader on healthcare, whether it’s our Covid-19 vaccine rollout saving lives or our innovative public health measures reducing people’s risk of serious illness.
“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.”
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The government has also said that e-cigarettes are “highly effective” in helping people quit, pointing to research that shows more smokers choose vapes (27.2%) than patches and gum (18.2%).
New rules from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would mean in order for vapes to be approved for use on the NHS, firms would have to ask the watchdog – just as drugs and vaccine producers do.
Once an e-cigarette is granted MHRA approval, it would then be up to doctors to decide on an individual case basis whether a prescription would be suitable for a patient.
Deborah Arnott, of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “Just as the MHRA led the world in licensing vaccines for COVID-19, today it is leading the world by backing medicinal licensing of e-cigarettes.
“This is entirely justified, as the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has pointed out, smoking is likely to have caused more premature deaths in the UK last year than the Covid pandemic.
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“Thanks to vaccines, Covid-19 is being brought under control, but smoking will kill as many people this year as last.
“With nearly 7 million smokers in the UK, smoking will continue to kill people for many years to come until we make smoking obsolete.
“Smokers find it hard to quit, taking on average 30 attempts to succeed, which is why we need new tools in the toolbox, such as medicinally licensed e-cigarettes.”
“Thanks to vaccines, Covid-19 is being brought under control, but smoking will kill as many people this year as last.
A Manchester-based runner has broken an ultramarathon record by running across the desert
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has a growing obsession with running and endurance events, in particular, did you hear about a locally based runner who’s set the record for legging it across a literal desert?
That’s some ‘Hardest Geezer’ stuff right there.
Yes, whether it’s the likes of the Great MCR Run and October Half, the fully fledged Manchester Marathon, or dare we say it, an extra hard ultra, the region seems to be absolutely chock-full of runners and events these days.
That being said, despite being inspired by countless individuals over the past few years, the feat that has impressed us most this year is the incredible achievement by one man: Alex Welch from Wilmslow.
We’re pretty sure this is the bloke The Pretenders must have been talking about.
Based right here in 0161, by day Alex Welch is employed as a senior cyber security sales specialist at a major European IT services company, SCC, over in Stretford.
However, by both day and night for a full working week late last month, the 29-year-old swapped his computers for a very sturdy pair of running trainers; trail shoes, to be specific, as he trekked across the Namib Desert in Africa.
Stretching more than 2,000 kilometres in total, spanning the reaches of Angola, Namibia and parts of South Africa, the talented distance runner ran approximately 12.5% of that entire landmass over the course of five days.
Broken up into five stages – 50km, 50k, 42k and 22k, as well as a truly brutal 92k day to finish – not only did the indefinable Cheshire-born bloke reach the finish line, but he did so in record time.
Let’s be honest, anyone challenging themselves with the course is clearly an absolute machine, but as seen above and now fully verified, Alex here did so in 24 hours and 27 minutes.
Taking just over a day to complete the entire thing, Alex led every beating everyone else in every single stage and ended up surpassing legendary American ultra runner and now race director Adam Kimble’s time from 2018 by almost 40 whole minutes. Utterly staggering stuff.
Signing up as an official OOSH-sponsored athlete for the event, having only just podiumed at the Ice Ultra round the Arctic Circle back in February, AND the Mountain Ultra across Kyrgyzstan this past June, he’s quite literally ‘endured blistering cold and scorching desert’ (one for Shrek 2 fans, there).
Commenting on the unbelievable achievement, the local lad said: “Namibia was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The heat was on another level, and every stage demanded absolute focus. To come away with the win – and a course record – is overwhelming.
“After the Arctic and Kyrgyzstan, this was the challenge I had been building towards all season. I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me, particularly my colleagues at SCC who have backed me every step of the way.”
Well done, Alex – we’re off to have a lie down because we’re tired just thinking about what you’ve just done, so hope you’ve at least got a few weeks of relaxation and victory pints lined up. That’s how we toasted our taste of an ultra, anyway…
8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Georgina Pellant -
29th October 2021 
