Up to 1 million British smokers will be encouraged to swap cigarettes for "vapes", with pregnant women offered financial incentives to make the change in what will be a world first, the UK government said on Tuesday.
Under the scheme, almost one-in-five smokers will be given a vape — an e-cigarette — starter kit, along with support to help quit smoking, the UK Department of Health said.
Pregnant women will also be offered vouchers to help them kick the habit as part of the government's target of reducing the number of smokers to 5 per cent or less of the population, down from 13 per cent now.
"Up to two-out-of-three lifelong smokers will die from smoking. Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly," Health Minister Neil O'Brien will say in a speech later on Tuesday, the government said.
"We will offer a million smokers new help to quit. We will be funding a new national 'swap to stop' scheme — the first of its kind in the world."
Vaping discouraged in Australia
The British approach stands in stark contrast to that of the Australian government, which has vowed to crack down on Australia's vaping black market amid concerns that a new generation is becoming addicted to nicotine, leading to calls to ban vaping altogether.
Under existing laws in Australia, nicotine vapes can only be purchased with a prescription by adults trying to quit smoking.
However, there is a growing cohort of vapers among people under 18 — about 16 per cent in 2021, according to one NSW study — buying mainly disposable vapes on the black market that are being imported and marketed in fluorescent colours and sweet flavours.
"The tobacco industry has found a new way to develop a generation of nicotine addicts, and we will not stand for it," Health Minister Mark Butler said last month.
A report released last Friday found there was only "limited evidence" that nicotine e-cigarettes were effective in helping people to quit, however there was "substantial evidence" that e-cigarette use can increase the uptake of tobacco smoking in people who do not smoke.
'Enforcement squad' to protect under-18s
The push to swap cigarettes for vapes is driven by the fact that tobacco is still the highest preventable cause of death and illness in Britain, the UK health department said.
Its government spent 68 million British pounds ($126.5 million) in 2021-22 on local authority measures to get people to stop smoking, leading to 100,000 smokers quitting, and easing the strain on Britain's overwhelmed National Health Service.
British health officials have warned, however, that vaping's popularity among children is exposing them to chemicals whose long-term effects are unclear.
Health service figures show 9 per cent of teens aged 11-15 years in Britain had used e-cigarettes in 2021, up from 6 per cent three years prior.
The UK government said it would set up an enforcement squad backed by 3 million pounds in funding to prevent the illegal sale of vapes to under-18s.
Reuters/ABC
