NHS TO PRESCRIBE E-CIGARETTES?

This has potential to completely transform the vaping business!

The rumours are true: e-cigarettes may soon be prescribed by the UK’s largest health service, our beloved NHS, in a last-ditch effort to cut smoking rates in the UK. As big advocates of using e-cigarettes to quit smoking, the Nasty Juice EU crew thinks this is a great step forward.

Prescribed vapes?

The NHS is already under duress, which has been increased by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Smoking is one of the most significant strains on the NHS, and it has a significant impact on people across the country. Each year, approximately 64,000 people die as a result of smoking, and in 2019 and 2020, 1,991,183 people were admitted to hospitals as a result of smoking alone; a figure that continues to rise year after year. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death. Fortunately, the number of smokers in the UK has reached a new low, however there are still 6.1 million smokers. There’s still a long way to go. E-cigarettes have been used by 27.2 percent of smokers to quit smoking, which is greater than any other single strategy. Using an e-cigarette in conjunction with Stop Smoking services is the most effective approach to quit smoking. This has a remarkable success rate of 68%!

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has released new guidance that allows medicinally regulated e-cigarettes to be recommended for smokers who are trying to quit.

If a product is approved by the MHRA, clinicians can then decide whether an e-cigarette should be prescribed to NHS patients to help them stop smoking on a case-by-case basis. Non-smokers and children are still strongly urged against smoking electronic cigarettes.

Although e-cigarettes contain nicotine and are not without risk, expert reviews from the United Kingdom and the United States have concluded that regulated e-cigarettes are less toxic than smoking. An e-cigarette with a medicinal licence would have to pass considerably more strict safety tests.

This audacious move might make England the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to smokers, setting a standard for countries around the world. Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has already welcomed the latest step forward in the manufacturer licencing process. He said:

 “This country continues to be a global leader on healthcare, whether it’s our COVID-19 vaccine roll-out saving lives or our innovative public health measures reducing people’s risk of serious illness. Opening the door to a licensed e-cigarette prescribed on the NHS has the potential to tackle the stark disparities in smoking rates across the country, helping people stop smoking wherever they live and whatever their background.”

The government are soon to publish a new tobacco control plan which intends to achieve a smoke-free England by 2030, via price changes, more educational programmes and encouragement of electronic cigarettes to current tobacco smokers.

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