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Daily news - 4th July 2025 |
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UK news
Fit for the Future: The 10 Year Health Plan for England (PDF)
The plan aims to tackle harmful alcohol consumption by introducing new standards for alcohol labelling. It also aims to support further growth in the no- and low- alcohol market. There are a number of initiatives to tackle smoking, including fully rolling out lung cancer screening for those with a history of smoking | UK Government, UK
New plan will fundamentally rewire NHS, says PM
Millions of patients will be treated closer to home under plans to "fundamentally rewire" the NHS in England, the prime minister has said | BBC, UK
Health experts criticise NHS Plan for failing to tackle alcohol harm
The Government’s long-awaited NHS 10-Year Plan has been published today – but leading public health experts have slammed it for failing to include key policies to reduce alcohol harm, despite record-high levels of alcohol-related illness and death contributing to NHS pressures | AHA, UK
Collective Voice responds to the 10-year health plan
Positive principles, but health is about more than the NHS: Collective Voice offers a cautious welcome to the Government’s 10-year health plan | Collective Voice, UK
The sale of illegal cigarettes signals a deeper problem with UK high streets
It's pitch black and we're crawling along a secret underground tunnel beneath a high street in Hull. We pass rotting beams propped up precariously by stacked breeze blocks. A rusty car jack is helping prevent the shop floor above from falling in | BBC, UK
Opioids: Death
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths linked to synthetic opioids in the last three years, by region | They work for you, UK
New census reveals ten times more women sleeping rough than Government counts
More than ten times as many women are sleeping rough than are identified through Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ‘snapshot’ counts, according to new research. Charities say faulty figures are due to gender-biased collection methods and are calling for changes to Government policy and practice | Change Grow Live, UK
Eighteen arrested in county lines drugs crackdown
Twenty-seven people, including four children, have been protected from county lines drugs gangs during a crackdown in Lincolnshire which led to 18 arrests, police said | BBC, UK
International news
WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%
The World Health Organization is pushing countries to raise the prices of sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50% over the next 10 years through taxation, its strongest backing yet for taxes to help tackle chronic public health problems | Mail Online, UK
Teens unable to walk, mothers with rash-covered babies: How the drug kush is ruining lives
Kush has shaken this part of West Africa to its core - not just Sierra Leone but Liberia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and the Gambia. It is highly addictive, ever-evolving and affordable - with ingredients to make it sometimes shipped in from the UK | Sky News, UK
Community Integration of Psychedelics: An Interview with Rosalind Watts
Creating supportive communities to integrate the psychedelic experience is just as important as ensuring a safe setting for the experience itself. Watch our interview with Rosalind Watts, a clinical psychologist and the founder of ACER Integration, UK | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Agency Revisited: Addiction Services’ Clients’ Recovery in the Light of the Brain Disease Model of Addiction (BDMA)
[Open access] Proponents and critiques of the brain disease model of addiction (BDMA) discuss its benefits and shortcomings in the light of agency. Yet, in this controversy, the experiences of the persons suffering from addiction have so far been widely neglected. This article investigates addiction service's clients’ experiences with their recovery in the light of the BDMA. It asks what role the BDMA plays in the recovery narratives of persons struggling with addiction | CDP, USA
Unflavored electronic cigarette exposure induces alterations in airway ciliary structure and function
Electronic cigarettes have been introduced as a safer alternative to traditional combustible cigarettes and have been growing in popularity. E-cig e-liquids all contain the carrier compounds, vegetable glycerin (VG), propylene glycol (PG), and nicotine, together with different flavors, but the effects of inhalation of these compounds on the airway are not well understood. This study investigates the effects of e-cig exposure on primary human airway epithelial cells grown in air–liquid interface (ALI) cultures, specifically focusing on mucociliary clearance, the lung’s primary host defense mechanism whereby pathogens and particles trapped by mucus are cleared by unidirectional beating by ciliated cells | BMC Respiratory Research, USA
Hypertension deaths from excessive alcohol use are increasing, study finds
The estimated mean annual number of hypertension deaths from excessive alcohol use was higher in 2020–2021 than in 2016–2017, with a higher increase among women than men, according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
10th Anniversary Lobby of Anyone’s Child: A look into a community bound by grief
On 24th June 2025, as part of the Support Don’t Punish Global Day of Action, a group of activists, policymakers and bereaved families came together in Westminster to demand better drug laws which centre health and human rights | Anyone's Child blog, UK
Speedballing – the deadly mix of stimulants and opioids – requires a new approach to prevention and treatment
Speedballing – the practice of combining a stimulant like cocaine or methamphetamine with an opioid such as heroin or fentanyl – has evolved from a niche subculture to a widespread public health crisis. The practice stems from the early 1900s when World War I soldiers were often treated with a combination of cocaine and morphine | Conversation, USA
Lung cancer screening hopes to save lives. But we also need to watch for possible harms
There is much to commend about Australia’s lung cancer screening program, which started on July 1. The program is based on gold-standard trial evidence showing this type of screening is likely to reduce lung cancer deaths. Some people will have their life prolonged due to this screening, which involves taking low-dose CT scans to look for lung cancer in people with a significant smoking history | Conversation, Australia