Half of England's adult smokers switching from cigarettes to vapes could save the NHS more than £500 million per year, according to a study.
Researchers at Brunel University London calculated that between 2019 and 2021, 13.6 per cent of people aged 18 and over in England smoked.
The lowest rate of smokers was found to be in the South East (12.2 per cent) compared to 14.6 per cent in the North West and 15 per cent in the North East and Yorkshire.
The study suggests that if 50 per cent of all smokers were to switch to e-cigarettes, hospital admissions would reduce by 13 per cent, translating to savings of £518 million. In London, around £53m would be saved.
Researchers analysed data relating to smoking as a cause of death, as well as the risk of developing five diseases as a result of the habit - cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
The total health expenditure was then calculated by multiplying the average ward costs per day for a specific disease by the mean length of stay in hospital for that disease.
Smoking accounts for approximately 74,600 deaths a year in England and there were an estimated 506,100 smoking-related admissions to England’s hospitals between 2019 and 2020.
Professor Francesco Moscone, a business economics expert from Brunel University London, said: “Such illnesses put significant burdens on the NHS, which we know is already under increasing pressure.”
Vaping is less harmful than smoking but still carries a health risk. Ministers have pledged to make England “smoke free” by 2030 to reduce future pressure on the NHS.
Prof Moscone said that while the long-term impact of vapes are unknown, previous research has shown they “result in a 90 per cent reduction in the exposure to chemicals that are major contributors to health risks”.
Anti-smoking campaigners and respiratory doctors have said that more needs to be done to help the public understand that vaping is less risky than smoking after a poll found that more than four in 10 smokers believe that vapes are as dangerous as cigarettes.
In a survey of 12,271 adults carried out for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) by YouGov, 43 per cent thought vaping was as dangerous or more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.
It is illegal to sell vapes to people aged under 18, but ministers have warned that children are being targeted by e-cigarette companies using colourful packaging and fruity flavours.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash, said “inaccurate beliefs about the harms” of vaping are a "barrier to smokers" and “must be urgently addressed”.
“This study provides further evidence that by providing one million vapes to smokers to help them quit, the Government’s ‘swap to stop’ campaign would help reduce pressure on our overstretched NHS.
“However, although smoking costs the NHS well over £2 billion a year, the biggest benefit to public finances from reductions in smoking won’t be to the NHS, but in reductions in spending on social security and social care due to smoking, which together amount to more than double the cost of smoking to the NHS.”
Steve Brine, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, said last month that ministers could maintain a public health message on the potential value of vapes as a tool to quit smoking while also using a regulatory approach to keep them out of the reach of children.
