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Use of e-cigarettes may help between 50,000 and 70,000 smokers in England quit every year, new research has shown. Researchers from University College London (UCL) assessed the correlation between the use of e-cigarettes and success rate of quitting smoking.
The study, published in Addiction, used data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, a series of monthly household surveys in England of people aged 16 and above that dates back to 2006.
According to the study, funded by Cancer Research UK, the success rate of smokers quitting tobacco cigarettes increased from 2011 as the number of smokers using e-cigarettes increased. The number of smokers using e-cigarettes to quit levelled out around four years ago, as did the success rate of quitting. By assessing 50,598 smokers between 2006 and 2017, the researchers concluded that in 2017, between 50,700 and 69,930 smokers quit who would have likely continued had they not started vaping.
The researchers investigated the connection between smokers’ current use of e-cigarettes and their use of e-cigarettes while attempting to quit, in addition to their number of quit attempts. The team also assessed the participants’ quit success rate and the quantity of cigarettes they would typically smoke.
Dr Emma Beard, senior research associate at UCL and lead author, explained the study is further evidence that vaping can help smokers to quit: “This study builds on population surveys and clinical trials that find e-cigarettes can help smokers to stop...England seems to have found a sensible balance between regulation and promotion of e-cigarettes.”
Source: The Independent, 17 October 2019
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One of the UK's largest mental health hospitals is to provide free e-cigarettes to those trying to quit smoking, in a deal with vaping retailer, VPZ. The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said it would help patients “transform” their health.
Every patient who smokes will be offered a £20 starter kit until the first 100 have been used. The project, will then be reviewed, but "early success" indicates it will continue.
People with mental health problems are far more likely to smoke than the general population. Smoking rates among adults with depression in the UK are about twice as high as among other adults while people with schizophrenia are three times more likely to smoke than other people.
Mary Yates, Nurse Consultant, Health Promotion & Wellbeing at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Smoking traps vulnerable people in poverty because it is so expensive. "This collaboration with VPZ has the potential to transform the lives of our patients, taking them off cigarettes, giving them more money and transforming their health. We are taking a very holistic approach where smoking is tackled along with mental health issues with the ultimate objective of improving our patients' overall wellbeing."
Patients will receive the kit, a number of e-liquids and some support guides which set out ways to look after the vape and how it should be used.
Public Health England has championed the role of e-cigarettes as a harm reduction tool, which it says are around 95% less harmful than smoking, and called for them to be made more widely available in hospitals.
Source: The Telegraph, 17 October 2019
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E-cigarettes: Correspondence between Rt. Hon. Norman Lamb MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, and Professor John Newton, Director of Health Improvement at Public Health England
Rt. Hon. Normal Lamb MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee has written to Professor John Newton, Director of Health Improvement at Public Health England (PHE), regarding recent reports from the US of vaping related illness and death, seeking clarification on PHE's position on e-cigarettes and their safety in light of the news.
Professor Newton's response sets out the UK's successful approach in the regulation and promotion of e-cigarettes as adult smoking cessation devices and clarifies that there is no consensus to change the UK's approach or advice for smokers to switch to e-cigarettes in light of news from the US.
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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