NHS Scotland has given its stamp of approval to e-cigarettes.
Scotland is leading the pack in recognising vaping as being less harmful. It wanted to clarify the debate surrounding the harms and benefits of e-cigarettes and believes that it can assist in making the country smoke-free in the long-run. NHS Scotland’s announcement was accompanied by a study from the University of Edinburgh and NHS Scotland.
The consensus statement was signed by 21 other organisations who share in NHS Scotland’s findings. These include Cancer Research UK, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, Faculty of Public Health, Scottish Consultants in Dental Health, UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, ASH Scotland and many more.
The statement includes two main messages:
- “To smokers we say: whether or not you use e-cigarettes, try stop smoking for the sake of your health and wellbeing and those around you. There is lots of help at hand to help you quit. NHS Scotland stop smoking services are free and are here to help you do that. See http://www.nhsinform.scot/smokeline “
- “To health professionals we say: when smokers come to you, advise them about the different ways they can quit and which are most effective. Be clear with them that expert support and medicinal treatments have the strongest evidence base to help people stop smoking. Do not turn anybody away because they choose to use e-cigarettes.”
NHS Scotland’s director of public health science was cited saying that even though e-cigarette’s have been around for a while and people keep learning more about them, he can conclude that e-cigarettes are a lot safer than cigarettes. He also went on to say that it makes complete sense to advise smokers who are trying to quit that e-cigarettes are a good option to consider.
The Review of ‘Creating a tobacco-free generation: A Tobacco Control Strategy for Scotland’ noted the impact of vaping: “The number of quit attempts using NHS smoking cessation services is continuing to fall. However, quit rates have increased.”
Sheila Duffy from ASH Scotland said, “tobacco is lethal and I’d encourage anyone who smokes to find a way of quitting that works for them, which could include using e-cigarettes, and to make use of free NHS stop-smoking support available to help.”
It’s great to see that countries are starting to see the benefits of vaping in the efforts to make their environments smoke-free. Let’s hope this will have a domino effect.
You can read the full article here.