British health minister delivered a speech: will actively promote e-cigarettes to smokers

British health minister delivered a speech: will actively promote e-cigarettes to smokers

Recently, British Health Minister Neil O’Brien delivered a keynote speech on tobacco control, saying that e-cigarettes are a powerful tool for quitting cigarettes. National “smoke free” (smoke free) goal.

The content of the speech was published on the official website of the British government

Cigarettes impose a heavy health and economic burden on the UK. Statistics show that two out of every three British smokers die from cigarettes. While cigarettes bring in lucrative tax revenues, the economic damage is even more staggering because smokers are more likely to get sick and lose jobs than non-smokers. In 2022, British tobacco tax revenue will be 11 billion pounds, but the total public financial expenditure related to cigarettes will be as high as 21 billion pounds, which is nearly twice the tax revenue. “Cigarettes can bring net economic benefits, but a popular myth.” Neil O’Brien said.

In order to help smokers quit smoking, the British government decided to promote electronic cigarettes. A large amount of research evidence has confirmed that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than cigarettes. High-quality evidence from international authoritative medical organizations such as Cochrane indicates that e-cigarettes can be used to quit smoking, and the effect is better than nicotine replacement therapy.

But e-cigarettes are not without controversy. Regarding the question that e-cigarettes may attract minors, Neil O’Brien said that some disposable e-cigarettes with bright colors, low prices and cartoon patterns are indeed sold to children. Those are illegal products, and the government has set up a special flight team to investigate Strike hard. This is not inconsistent with the government’s promotion of compliant e-cigarettes to smokers.

“E-cigarettes are a double-edged sword. We will do our best to prevent minors from being exposed to e-cigarettes, and we will also actively help adult smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking.” He said.

UK Health Minister Neil O’Brien
In April 2023, the British government launched the world’s first “change to e-cigarettes before quitting smoking” plan to increase the success rate of smoking cessation by distributing free e-cigarettes to smokers. Neil O’Brien introduced that the plan has taken the lead in successfully piloting in poverty-stricken areas with high smoking rates. Next, the government will provide free e-cigarettes and a series of behavioral support to 1 million British smokers.

More and more British smokers are successfully quitting smoking through vaping. Data show that just a few weeks after quitting smoking, smokers’ lung function levels improved by 10%, and the risk of diseases such as heart disease was also significantly reduced. Quitting smoking can also save about £2,000 per year for each smoker, which in deprived areas means that local consumption levels will be effectively increased.

“E-cigarettes can play an important role in helping the government achieve the 2030 smoke-free goal.” Neil O’Brien said that the current use of e-cigarettes is not widespread enough, and more measures are needed to allow adult smokers to switch to e-cigarettes as soon as possible. smoke because “they quit smoking today, they won’t be in the hospital bed next year”.