Vapers support ‘swap to stop’ scheme, but want products available from shops

The recently announced government scheme to give out free vapes to smokers appeals to most but not all, a new research has found.

The study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has shown that accessing vapes via the NHS might not be appealing to everyone, because some people don’t see e-cigarettes as treatments but more as consumer products that they can shop for themselves.

The government in April announced a ‘swap to stop’ scheme, providing up to one million smokers with an e-cigarette starter kit along with support to help quit smoking.

The UEA study, published in the journal Perspectives in Public Health, supports the scheme, with people who vape saying that this type of approach might have helped them if it had been available when they attempted to quit.

The researchers said there is a place for both commercial and medical routes to vaping for quitting smoking to satisfy people’s personal preferences.

“The vast majority of people who have quit smoking via vaping will have done so without any support from healthcare professionals,” Lead researcher Dr Emma Ward, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said.

“However, using vapes to quit smoking has been supported by the NHS and there are guidelines for healthcare professionals to support patients looking to quit smoking with vaping.”

The team interviewed 136 people from across the UK – nearly all of whom had quit smoking via vaping.

They asked them how helpful they would have found e-cigarettes being provided by the NHS when they were attempting to quit. They also asked for their views on different ways to access vaping for quitting smoking.

Dr Ward said: “Our research shows that people who quit smoking using commercially purchased vapes believe they might have benefitted from the NHS providing e-cigarettes and support if it had been available to them when they were quitting.

“Vaping being available via healthcare professionals offers reassurance around the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in helping people quit smoking and potential harms.

“However, it is unlikely that one type of e-cigarette will suit everyone seeking to quit and our research highlights how important being able to choose vaping products in a commercial environment is for some quitters.

“People who vape believe they have benefited from being able to choose vaping products in shops to get the right mix of device and flavours to work best for them to help them to permanently stop smoking.

“Even those who do achieve success with vapes given to them by the NHS are likely to continue to use shops to buy ongoing vaping supplies.

“So, we argue that there is a place for both commercial and medical routes to vaping to help people stop smoking.”

The research, funded by Cancer Research UK, was carried out in collaboration with London South Bank University.