Public Health Initiatives
This section will tell you everything you will need to know about the initiatives that are currently being run by public health organisations around the world. These organisations include national health organisations, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef, International Medical Health Organisation.
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Some questions we are aiming to ask:
1. What campaigns are these organisations running?
2. Who are they helping ?
3. What are the most pressing issues in healthcare worldwide?
4. How are they making health and wellbeing accessible to all?
Vaping
(Australia and Ireland)
Vapes or E-cigarettes are battery powered devices that dispense and aerosol when liquid it is heated. There are many health impacts of vaping including harming brain development, respiratory problems, persistant coughing, attention issues, learning, memory and mood changes.​
Australia
Source: The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. From the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022-2023, the most likely group to vape were younger people within the age bracket of 18-24 years (9.3% using vapes everyday). Conversely the greatest tobacco users were between the age 40-59 years. People living in the lowest socioeconomic areas were more likely to smoke cigarettes whereas the highest socioeconomic areas were more likely to smoke vapes (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024).
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From the 1st July 2024:
The only retailer of nicotine vapes are pharmacies.
Any other retailer selling vapes is doing so illegally. As an adult, you will need a prescription to purchase a vape with nicotine in it until 30 September 2024 and after that time, you will need to speak to a pharmacist before you purchase.
Nicotine vapes are limited to 20mg/mL of nicotine and if more is required, a prescription is needed.
Flavours are limited to mint, menthol and tobacco.
What has been done ?
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Prohibiting sales of nicotine and flavoured vapes.
What needs to be done?
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Use behaviour change methods to encourage young people to quit vaping.
Ireland
The the CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation said “we need to stop the insidious attempt to recruit a new generation of nicotine addicts”. This startling phrase puts into perspective the true aim of the nicotine business. Years of hard work in the form of public health campaigns have helped to reduce the number of children and teenagers smoking cigarettes however, the clever use of flavours and packaging (aimed at children) has redirected their interest towards vaping.
Nothing drastic has been done in Ireland yet to combat these issues. The minister for health banned the sale of vapes to anyone under the age of 18 on December 23rd 2023. The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill also outlines the reduction in the number of retailers who can sell vapes and there will be measures implemented to curb the advertising of these products near schools etc.
Ireland aims to reduce tobacco consumption to 5%. However, the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey saw 22% of 12-17 year olds say they have used e-cigarettes and 9% of these children reported having used them in the past 30 days.
What has been done?
The sale of e-cigareetes to be banned to anyone under 18.
What needs to be done?
The Irish Public Health Association has released recommendations in response to the governments aims to reduce entire tobacco use to 5% in-line with the Health Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021-2025. Comparatively to how Australia are tackling vaping addictions, they suggested:
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Regulation on the marketing of e-cigarettes.
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Restricting e-cigarette flavours.
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Restricting retailers to specialist vape shops.
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Introducing progressive e-cigarette taxation.
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Conclusion
While the exact health effects of e-cigarettes and vapes are not fully known, it is well-known that nicotine can be drastic for health and is associated with population mortality yearly. Additionally, it is hypothesised that the additions chemicals present in battery-powered vapes will also be detrimental to health. Australia has managed to implement strict guidelines very quickly in the public health sphere whereas Ireland has been slower to make any sudden changes. Nonetheless, it is clear that both nations have witnessed the detrimental effects that thes products can have on public health especially among children. It is imperative that health promotion agencies can introduce campaigns to shift public opinion on vapes in the same direction as tobacco use.
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Electronic cigarette use (vaping) in Australia in 2022–2023. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/vaping-e-cigarettes
Government of Ireland. Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021–2025. Dublin; 2021.
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Children's Food Marketing in Norway
Sources: https://www.regjeringen.no/
The Norweigan government have proposed a ban on the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children. The modern food environment contains advertisements of omnipresent energy-dense, palatable and inexpensive food (shapes and colours of food, offering toys etc). These companies can strategically place advertising within a child's everyday environment through television, social media, games, outside of schools and in supermarkets. It has been debated whether this type of persuasive marketing can explot a child's cognitive limitations eg. they may be unable to differentiate with fact and exaggeration of a product (1). This marketing can affect a child's behaviours, perceptions and attitudes towards a product. This is incredible dangerous with the rate at which childhood obesity is rising in today's society. Additionally, research have presented strong links between food marketing and obesity in children (2).
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With this in mind, in line with the recommendations of WHO (3), Norway have set the standard in terms of public with the aim to combat this issue. This ban proposes that the most unhealthy products such as chocolate, soft drinks, candy, icecream etc cannot be advertised to children. Additionally, nutrient thresholds will exist to ban the advertising of the most unhealth items in categories such as milk, cereals, yoghurts etc. This is especially helpful as parents with little education or knowledge of nutrition can understand what their child should be consuming.
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This is hugely impactful as the WHO also states that while they have made calls for responsible marketing of these products, it has not made a meanungful impact. This was also echoed in a report by a UK activist group called 'Bite Back' who delved into the 'marketing policies for children' of the 10 largest food and beverage companies (4). They found that against their claims and aims, large food companies inadvertantly marketing their unhealthy products to children using shapes, colours and children-friendly language. These products fell into the categories of hight fat, sugar and salt. Notable, Norway have also proposed that their ban will protect children up to the age of 18 years old. This is in contract to most corporations aim to not advertise up to the age of 13 years.
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In terms of public health, Norway is trailblazing the way for other countries to follow suit to protect the population of children in their respective counties.
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Sources:
1. Kunkel D., Wilcox B.L., Cantor J., Palmer E., Linn S., Dowrick P. Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children. American Psychological Association; Washington, DC, USA: 2004.
2. Smith R, Kelly B, Yeatman H, Boyland E. Food Marketing Influences Children's Attitudes, Preferences and Consumption: A Systematic Critical Review. Nutrients. 2019 Apr 18;11(4):875. doi: 10.3390/nu11040875. PMID: 31003489; PMCID: PMC6520952.
4. https://biteback.contentfiles.net/media/documents/Child_Marketing_report__FINAL_1.pdf