Tackling gambling related harms as a public health issue

Gambling is a highly profitable commercial activity, with providers including international corporations and governments. However, there is growing international recognition that gambling is a source of serious harm, and that there is inequity in the distribution of this harm, which has led to demands for action to protect public health. These concerns are reflected in the recent report from the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group, which calls for stronger action on regulation of online gambling. Although there is largely a consensus on the need for developing and implementing strategies to reduce gambling-associated harms, to date, the stated need for a public health approach to preventing harm has not been widely or effectively translated into action in the UK. The barriers and facilitators to effective public health action need to be understood to enable good intentions to be translated into effective action. The current context represents real opportunities for policy implementation, but also the threats to effective action that need to be addressed

Risks to health and the NHS in the post-Brexit era

Trade deals negotiated as the next part of the Brexit process will have big implications for healthcare, and we need greater transparency say May van Schalkwyk and colleague

Assessing the health effects of a “no deal” Brexit

Key messages: *Leaving the EU without a deal threatens health and the NHS in many ways, but the scale of the threat remains unclear *We propose a framework that could be the basis for the comprehensive health impact assessment to inform politicians and the public *The government’s claims that it is prepared for no deal are implausible and, at best, might mitigate some of the worst consequences

Size matters: An analysis of cigarette pack sizes across 23 European Union countries using Euromonitor data, 2006 to 2017

INTRODUCTION: The tobacco industry (TI) has used small cigarette pack sizes to encourage brand-switching and consumption, and to mitigate t