To reach a smoke-free world by 2030, a UK government advisor supports vaping
Without immediate action, the UK would fall seven years short of its goal of having no smokers.
According to a key adviser to the UK government, the nation will fall seven years short of its smoke-free 2030 goal if no severe measures are taken, such as promoting vaping as a less dangerous alternative to smoking.
A senior NHS official and former CEO of the children’s charity Barnardos, Dr. Javed Khan OBE, was requested to assess Britain’s progress toward its goal of a smoking prevalence of less than 5% by 2030.
The plan is:
- Invest more money: around £125 million in smoke-free 2030 plans should go toward providing accessible stop smoking support. Khan also suggests imposing a tax on the tobacco industry to help raise the necessary funds.
- Every year, raise the purchase age by one year, until tobacco is essentially prohibited (The current age at which you can buy cigarettes in the UK is 18).
- Promote vaping as a useful tool for assisting people in quitting tobacco use.
- By providing smokers with encouragement to stop at every point of contact with the UK’s healthcare systems, the NHS can improve prevention.
According to the report, one way the government can help smokers “quit for good” is by promoting vaping as a substitute.
At every opportunity for intervention, healthcare professionals must make sure to give smokers “accurate information on the benefits of switching.”
Khan advises
Khan advises the government to “accelerate the path to prescribed vapes,” which would let doctors give people discounted pharmaceuticals. Due to the extensive regulatory requirements, the UK government has been attempting to encourage the development of a therapeutic vaping product for more than ten years but has not yet been successful.
To combat this, Khan suggests giving away free “swap to stop” kits in underserved areas while limiting youth adoption by outlawing packaging with cartoon characters.
In outlining his suggestions, Khan is adamant about dispelling the many misconceptions that exist regarding smoking and vaping:
“Some may argue that people should be urged to give up all types of nicotine, and while I can appreciate their concern, my first objective is to assist individuals in giving up smoking as soon as they can. That must also be the top priority in terms of public health. But there is a lot of misunderstanding and even false information about vaping. The most frequent concern is with its danger. I have had conversations with some of the top scholars and researchers both here and abroad. They all assured me that using a vape pen is much healthier than smoking.
We are aware that the thousands of harmful compounds found in cigarettes, like tar and carbon monoxide, kill you instead of nicotine. Smokers who use vapes get the nicotine they need without breathing in the poisons they would from smoking cigarettes.
The healthiest choice, of course, is to never smoke or vape. And the usage of vapes should only be promoted as a smoking cessation tool. ”
