According to the health chiefs, more and more hospitals should build their stock of electronic cigarettes and allow vaping in separate private rooms as a part of the ‘smoke-free’ efforts of the NHS. This call was given by the Public Health England as an evidence update on the safety of all sorts of alternatives to tobacco smoking which is said to be used more widely as the aids for quitting smoking. The federal officials should meanwhile assist the manufacturers in licensing e-cigarettes as the best tools for quitting smoking. If such a move is taken, the general physicians would prescribe e-cigarettes and vape tools to their patients who have been trying hard to quit smoking. Click here to know more on how e-cigarettes can be a worthy alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
Is vaping safer as an alternative to tobacco?
As per an Independent review, which includes 2016 guidance, experts had concluded that vaping can also pose some kind of health risk but this will come in a rather small fraction as compared to the risks of smoking. Vaping could be a popular option in the mental health hospitals as these patients have been staying in the mental hospitals for a long term and they have caused high levels of harm related to tobacco. This harm could be reduced by endorsing vaping.
Reports ask government to allow them on trains and buses
The science and technology of MP’s committee reported on e-cigarettes that they are a gateway for smoking for the young. The report even asked whether or not NHS is offering a tool which could assist people in quitting smoking. So what else do the MPs say in this report? Read on.
- The MPs call for increased freedom for the entire industry to promote more and more e-cigarettes
- The MPs asked the government to relax the tax implications on electronic cigarettes so that the health benefits could be stressed on
- The MPs called for a yearly review of the positive health benefits of electronic cigarettes and also as electronic cigarettes as heat-not-burn products
- The MPs called for a reconsideration of the size of the tank and strengths of refill capacity
- The MPs asked for license for the electronic cigarettes as worthy medical devices for smokers who are trying their best to quit
- The MPs also vouched for the ban on snus to end which is an oral tobacco alternative which isn’t legal in the UK under the rules laid by the European Union
E-cigarettes can target 20,000 quits in a year
It was estimated according to a research that electronic cigarettes could be contributing to more than 20,000 quits every year. The total numbers of people who are utilizing these products have plummeted and the figure now stands at 3 million in the UK as per the review. The UK centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies and the Cancer Research UK found out the statistics. One reason behind this uptake could be the misconceptions and the myths associated with the slight level of harm with these devices. Researchers have also found that there are several smokers who wrongly believe that vaping is equally harmful as smoking and 3 in 5 smokers have never tried vaping an e-cigarette. Though vaping is not entirely without risk but the overall risk is estimated to be less than 5% as compared to the harm caused by tobacco. Risks of developing cancer will be calculated less than 1%. So, as more and more smokers realize the negative impacts of smoking on their health, they take to vaping. Moreover, there is a general agreement among the public health experts, the scientists and the doctors that electronic cigarettes are much less harmful than regular tobacco cigarettes which are combustible. Hence, the NHS hospitals should get proactive in promoting e-cigs as a viable tobacco alternative.
