Under a ground-breaking national scheme, almost one in five smokers in England will receive a vaping starter kit as well as behavioral support to help them quit smoking.
The scheme, announced by the Department of Health, is part of a series of new measures to help the government achieve its goal of a smoke-free England by 2030, which means reducing the rate of smoking to 5% or less.
Local authorities will be invited to participate in the program during the year and each of them will design a program adapted to their needs, in particular by deciding on the populations to be targeted in priority.
smokers Will be Encouraged to Swap Their Cigarettes
One million smokers will be encouraged to swap their cigarettes for vapes under a pioneering new “swap to stop” program designed to improve the nation’s health and reduce smoking rates.
Health Minister Neil O’Brien announced April 11 that following the success of local programs, pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to help them quit smoking. This will include offering vouchers, as well as behavioral support, to all pregnant women who smoke by the end of next year.
The government will also carry out a consultation on the introduction of mandatory inserts on cigarette packs containing positive messages and information to help people quit smoking.
In addition, illicit sales of vaping products will be cracked down as part of measures to prevent children and non-smokers from starting to smoke, a habit that is gaining popularity among young people.
“Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking. Cigarettes are the only product on sale that can kill you if used. We’re going to give one million smokers new help to quit smoking. We will fund a new national “change to quit” program, the first of its kind in the world. We will work with city authorities and others to provide one million smokers in England with a free vaping starter kit,” said Neil O’Brien.
The new policies will achieve the government’s three goals: helping more adults quit smoking, preventing children and non-smokers from taking up vaping, and using vaping as a tool to help adult smokers quit. to smoke.
Figures presented by the UK Public Health System (NHS) for 2021 showed that 9% of children aged 11-15 used e-cigarettes, up from 6% in 2018.
Given this large increase, the Department of Health will launch a youth vaping call for papers to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products and to explore areas in which the government can go further.
Working with law enforcement agencies and building on the government’s work with the Illegal Tobacco Trading Standards, new funding of £3 million will also be provided to establish a “Illegal Vaping Products Law Enforcement” specializes in enforcing vaping rules and combating illicit vaping products and sales to minors.
As part of these measures, the customs services, HMRC and Border Force, will also publish an updated illicit tobacco strategy this year. This strategy will strategically lay out how to continue to target, catch and punish those involved in the illicit tobacco market.
In 2021, the prevalence of smoking in England was 13%, the lowest rate ever, thanks to measures such as the doubling of cigarette duties since 2010 and the continued funding of local tobacco control services. smoking.
In 2021-22, £68 million in public health grants were spent by local authorities on smoking cessation services and nearly 100,000 people quit smoking with the help of a smoking cessation service. smoking cessation aid.
In addition, £35 million has been allocated to the NHS this year to ensure that all smokers admitted to hospital are offered NHS-funded smoking treatment services.
However, 5.4 million people in England continue to smoke cigarettes, which remains the biggest cause of preventable disease and death. Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking and recent data show that one out of four deaths from all cancers is due to smoking.
Last year, an independent study on smoking, led by Javed Khan, and published on the UK Department of Health website, proposed a series of measures to help people kick their addiction, which inspired measures presented today.
This article is originally published on businessnews.com.tn
