Yesterday, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was agreed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, completing its parliamentary journey! 
🤝
Next up: Royal Assent ✅

Keep us beating With your support, British Heart Foundation powers lifesaving research that keeps people with their loved ones for longer.

Read more about the campaign here - bhf.org.uk/keep-us-beat...

Many thanks to @ldbrianmathewmp.bsky.social for visiting his local @thebhf.bsky.social red bench last Friday in Broughton Gifford, dedicated to Amalie.

Amalie is one of dozens who have shared their experience of cardiovascular disease as part of our Keep Us Beating campaign❤️

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting up with @paulfostermp.bsky.social to film something very exciting! Stay tuned 👀❤️🎬

Yesterday, the UK Government renewed the Women's Health Strategy for England ❤️

Watch our Head of External Affairs, Alex Kenney explain what the renewed strategy means for women's heart health 📽️👇

Women and heart disease Women and heart disease

↪️ @thebhf.bsky.social's committed to leading change in how women are listened to across the healthcare system, by investing in cutting‑edge research and powering the scientific breakthroughs that underpin better care 🚀👩‍⚕️

Learn more about what we’re doing here 👇
www.bhf.org.uk/informations...

Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England The renewed Women’s Health Strategy sets out how the government will improve women’s health and healthcare over the next 10 years.

↪️ Despite the outdated perception that heart disease is a ‘man’s disease’, it’s one of the biggest killers of women in the UK, and worldwide.

But women do not always receive the same care as men, and this can have significant impacts on their cardiovascular health 💔🔗
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Today, the UK Government has renewed the Women’s Health Strategy for England, highlighting the steps needed to address the barriers to timely and effective care facing women across the country.

Responding to the strategy, @thebhf.bsky.social’s Chief Executive, Dr Charmaine Griffiths said:

↪️ Read more about the campaign here - www.bhf.org.uk/keep-us-beat...

Many thanks to Richard Holden MP for visiting his local @thebhf.bsky.social red bench today in Billericay, dedicated to seven year old Archie.

Archie is one of dozens who have shared their experience of cardiovascular disease as part of our Keep Us Beating campaign.❤️

↪️ Clinical trials show that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, can reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular emergencies beyond its impact on weight 💡

This could have a transformative impact for CVD patients, alongside nutrition support, physical activity and existing meds 🫀

🚨 ICYMI, last week, the NHS announced it will soon offer the GLP-1 medication Wegovy (currently used for weight loss), to more than 1m people with CVD to help prevent heart attacks and strokes 💉

Read @thebhf.bsky.social response to the announcement here ➡️ www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/n...

Impact of supermarket fruit and vegetable placement on store sales, customer purchasing, diet and household waste: A prospective matched-controlled cluster trial Christina Vogel and colleagues assessed the impact of moving the fresh fruit and vegetable section near store entrances on store-level sales, household-level purchasing and waste, and dietary behaviou...

↪️ The full research paper can be accessed here:

journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

↪️ Research like this can help retailers understand how to encourage healthier shopping, which will be important to meet healthier sales targets in the future as part of the Government's Healthy Food Standard.

Getting this right will be key to supporting improvements to the population's health 🔑

↪️ As foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) are more available and heavily promoted than healthier options in the UK, this makes healthier choices harder for shoppers 💔

Excess consumption of HFSS products contributes to excess weight and diet-related diseases, including CVD.

📣 New research by @unisouthampton.bsky.social found that placing expanded fruit & vegetable sections near the entrances of discount supermarkets can boost purchases of fruit & veg and potentially improve women's diets 🛒

Read about the study here ➡️ www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2026/04...

Keep us beating With your support, British Heart Foundation powers lifesaving research that keeps people with their loved ones for longer.

Kyle is one of dozens who have shared their experience of cardiovascular disease as part of our Keep Us Beating campaign.

Read more about the campaign here: www.bhf.org.uk/keep-us-beat...

Many thanks to @jeffsmithmp.bsky.social for visiting his local @thebhf.bsky.social red bench yesterday in Didsbury and taking the time to meet with his constituent Kyle, whose story the bench recognises.

↪️ If applied, the updated model should better protect children's health by reducing their exposure to advertising & promotions of less healthy food and drink products🧁

Applying the new NPM to advertising and promotions restrictions We're seeking views on applying the new nutrient profiling model (NPM) to the advertising and promotions restrictions on 'less healthy' food and drink products.

We’re pleased to see the Govt has launched a consultation on applying the 2018 Nutrient Profiling Model to food advertising & promotion restrictions.

It's an important step to strengthen existing regulations by aligning them with current dietary guidelines & evidence💪

www.gov.uk/government/c...

We welcome the passage of Scotland’s Legislative Consent Motion for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 🎉

This is an important step forward, ensuring Scotland can play its part in achieving a Smokefree UK 🚭

↪️ NCD Alliance Scotland’s 2026 manifesto calls for policy priorities grounded in decisive, evidence-based action to:
✅ reduce the harm driven by health-harming products and commercial practices
✅ address persistent health inequalities
✅prioritise people’s health and wellbeing over profit.

NCD Alliance Scotland Non-communicable diseases (NCD's) are responsible for almost half of all deaths in Scotland. We are calling for action to prevent these deaths.

📢 ICYMI

Earlier this month, NCD Alliance Scotland launched its manifesto calling for decisive action by the Scottish Government on alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy food and drink to reverse Scotland's deteriorating health 💔

Read more here 👉 www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/i...

Many thanks to all MPs who participated in the debate and spoke in favour of the Bill!

The Bill will briefly go back to the House of Lords before going on to be granted Royal Assent📜

Yesterday evening, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill returned to the House of Commons for MPs to consider amendments made in the House of Lords 🏦

MPs agreed that no vote was needed on the Lords amendments, accepting all amendments as valuable additions to the Bill 🤝

↪️Fantastic insights from @profkevinfenton.bsky.social, Amanda Stucke, Vicky Edmonds, and Honourable Dr Pukose Robert 🧠

A clear takeaway is that if people cannot understand or use health information, our health system is not inclusive, and we need a whole-system approach to advance health literacy 🤝

Chatham house building

Great to attend @chathamhouse.org earlier this week to hear about how civil society, public and private sector actors can work together to improve health literacy and inclusivity, to drive long-term economic resilience 💡

Bridging Hearts: Addressing inequalities in cardiovascular health and care report BHF’s Health Insights and Policy and Public Affairs teams have published a report which considers how level of deprivation, sex and ethnicity can impact a person’s cardiovascular health.

↪️ Building on our Bridging Hearts report, published last year, we explored themes such as:

📢Using our voice to call out racism in all its forms
🏘️The role of the wider determinants
📊 The need for consistent data & measurement
🤝How to build long-lasting trust

www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/o...

British Heart Foundation policy roundtable attendees

Last week, @thebhf.bsky.social hosted a policy roundtable with sector experts, to help us better understand how we can use our voice to address inequalities in CVD risk and outcomes for ethnic minority communities in the UK 🤝❤️‍🩹

@thebhf.bsky.social 🔬🫀