Lifeline for 1,000,000 smokers to get free vapes to help quit cigarettes: Health Minister

*Campaigners welcome the British Government’s measures as ‘welcome steps in the right direction’, as the authorities offer vape starter kits to almost one in five of all smokers in England in a push to make the country ‘smoke free’

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The British Government is offering one million smokers a choice of vapes, strengths and flavours in order to encourage them to swap cigarettes for these.

ConsumerConnect learnt the novel initiative is first of its kind in the world.

The Ministers are also calling the ‘swap to stop’ scheme a world first.

Marijuana smoker

Through the initiative, vape starter kits will be offered to almost one in five of all smokers in England in a push to make the nation ‘smoke free’.

Pregnant women will also be offered up to £400 to stop smoking and a consultation will be launched on introducing quitting advice on cigarette packs, reports Metro, UK.

Campaigners have welcomed the government’s measures as ‘welcome steps in the right direction’ but said they are ‘nowhere near sufficient’.

Experts also expect the 2019 pledge to get the United Kingdom (UK) smoke free by 2030 to be missed.

A choice of products, strengths and flavours will be on offer to give smokers the best product for them, report said.

Funding for the scheme, estimated to cost around £45 million over two years, will come from the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget.

Figures suggest nine percent of women still smoke during pregnancy in England.

Cigarettes as products that can kill consumers -UK Health Minister

On the concept of modern smoking, vaping and nicotine, it’s hoped behavioural support and a financial incentive – in the form of vouchers throughout pregnancy – will get all of them to stop by the end of the year.

Health Minister Neil John O’Brien, OBE, reportedly disclosed Tuesday, April 11, 2023, that “up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking.”

ConsumerConnect reports O’Brien is a British politician who was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health September 2022. It was learnt that a major review led by Dr. Javed Khan, in 2022, said smoking should be banned in outdoor spaces, such as beer gardens, cafe pavements and beaches.

O’Brien stated: “Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly.”

The Health Minister also noted: “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.

“We will work with councils and others to offer a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit.”

The Minsiter also said vaping should be promoted as a means to help people stop using tobacco.

But he acknowledged vapes are not a ‘silver bullet’, nor are they ‘totally risk free’, though the alternative of smoking was said to be far worse.

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