Call For E-Cigarettes To Be Prescribed On NHS

Government health officials have called for doctors to be able to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS.

Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the Department of Health, says new research has found smokers who switch to e-cigarettes from traditional tobacco products remove almost all of the risks.

The review said vaping is 95% less harmful than tobacco.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and well-being at PHE, said people who use e-cigarettes to help them to quit smoking would see the best results if it is done in conjunction with other stop-smoking services.

He said: "The best thing that a smoker can do is to quit and to quit forever.

"For some people who may find it difficult to quit using traditional methods, the e-cigarettes may provide a new tool - another tool - for them to switch from smoking - which we know is significantly harmful - to a method which is significantly less harmful."

The authors also found there is no evidence that the e-devices are encouraging new people to take up the habit.

Prof Fenton added: "At the moment there are no licensed products that can be used for medicinal purposes and that's one of the reasons why we are very supportive of the MHRA (Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) looking at the pathway for ensuring that there are safe and regulated e-cigarettes that can be promoted for medicinal purposes.

"Now once that is approved and when we have products in that pipeline, then absolutely it can be used as part of the tools that we have available to offer to patients to help them to quit."

Almost all of the 2.6 million adult users are current or former tobacco smokers.

Each year, smoking-related diseases are blamed for around 80,000 deaths.

PHE hopes its review will reduce the number of avoidable deaths, but despite growing evidence surrounding the safety of the e-devices, the report found that public distrust is increasing.

GPs and other health service providers are currently able to prescribe several different stop-smoking treatments, including patches, but they are not allowed to prescribe or even recommend e-cigarettes as none of the products on the market are licensed for medicinal use.

The Anti-Smoking group ASH (Action on Smoking Health) supports calls for a change.

Deborah Arnott, ASH's Chief Executive, said: "This timely statement from Public Health England should reassure health professionals, the media, and the public, particularly smokers, that the evidence is clear: electronic cigarettes are very much less harmful than smoking."