A recent study reveals free vapes for smokers in hospitals could save lives and prevent heart disease.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) conducted a trial across six UK hospitals in 2022 handing out free vapes to smokers.
The trial consisted of health professionals handing out free vape starter kits to daily smokers. Followed by catered support in the hopes of helping them reduce or quit the habit.
Dr Ian Pope from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and an emergency physician said:
“Smoking killed almost 75,000 people in the UK in 2019 and it is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the UK.
“Swapping to e-cigarettes could save thousands of lives. We believe that if this intervention was widely implemented it could result in more than 22,000 extra people quitting smoking each year(1).”
What did the study find?
The 30-month research programme had a total of 972 participants.
484 of the patients smoked daily and began using the provided free vapes. Followed by an NHS referral to stop-smoking services.
The second group of 488 patients took home written information on how to access services but were not referred directly.
The research found that those who received catered support were 76% more likely to have given up smoking.
In total 7.2% of people given devices quit smoking altogether whereas, for those who didn’t accept catered support, 4.1% stopped.
However, for the patients who didn’t quit smoking altogether, vape intervention allowed them to cut down their daily intake. This provided a clear path to quitting smoking and allowed many people in deprived areas access to free vapes they otherwise couldn’t afford.
Researchers implored the introduction of catered stop-smoking support in emergency departments and believe it is vital to support people through new changes in the smoking laws.
Dr Pope further stated:
“This shows that helping people quit smoking whilst they wait in the emergency department is effective.
“It also confirms that e-cigarettes are effective at helping people to quit smoking. Based on these results we feel hospital emergency departments are a valuable opportunity to support people to quit smoking and policymakers should seriously consider it as a location for smoking cessation interventions (1).”
Why should you make the switch to vaping?
According to the NHS, there are an estimated 76,000 deaths each year caused by smoking (2). Although vaping nicotine doesn’t come without risks it was found by Public Health England to be 95% safer than combustible cigarettes (3).
The ‘NHS Better Health’ website states:
“Evidence shows that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking. Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins and at lower levels than smoking.
“Switching to vaping significantly reduces your exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease, and diseases of the heart and circulation like heart attack and stroke. These diseases are not caused by nicotine, which is relatively harmless to health (4).”
Sources
(1) University of East Anglia. (2024). Handing out vapes in A&E helps smokers quit.
(2) NHS.(2022). What are the health risks of smoking?
(3) Gov.UK. (2015). Cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review.
(4). Better Health. (2024). Vaping to Quit Smoking.
