If you’re an e-cigarette user, you’ve probably been wise to the idea that e-cigarettes are much better for you than smoking tobacco, it’s even quite likely you were an ex tobacco smoker and made the switch to e-cigarettes for this very reason. Having made that switch, you no doubt feel healthier and happier with yourself knowing that you may have avoided serious health problems in the future related to smoking tobacco.
Well, it appears now Government health officials also agree with you and would like to see more tobacco users using e-cigarettes instead. This comes after a review they published stating that vaping is 95% less harmful than tobacco. In light of this review officials want GPs to be able to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS to reduce the number of people dying of tobacco related diseases every year in the UK by reducing the number of smokers.
E-Cigarettes have become popular in recent years, it’s even spawned a culture of fanatic vapers and vape culture across UK, Europe and the US. However for most vapers, it is the similarity between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes that has aided their efforts to quit smoking and take up what is considered to be a healthier alternative. The familiar glow of an e-cigarette and the ability to draw on vapour laced with nicotine which resembles smoke has proved to be a very popular tool in helping people quit smoking. E-Cigarettes are now also being trumpeted as a potential game changer in public health here in the UK.
As it stands, GPs and smoking cessation services are not currently able to prescribe or recommend any e-cigarettes brands as none of the e-cigarettes available on the market are licensed. Public health officials are hoping this will change soon.
A recent concern which has been voiced in the media and anti-vaping community is that vaping normalises smoking which would encourage younger children who do not smoke at all, to be lured into the habit of smoking through the route of vaping. Despite the concerns, officials say that there is no evidence so far that e-cigarettes act as a route into smoking for non smokers and children. Infact, research shows almost all of the vaping population are either current or ex-smokers with only a minority of virgin smokers now vaping.
In general UK is witnessing a decline in the number of people smoking tobacco and professionals believe that e-cigarettes are one of the main contributing factors towards this declining trend. However, the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes has been met with equal distrust, misinformation and myths all contributing to negative press. But as the paranoia and rushed opinions on vaping come to settle, new reports are shedding a much clearer light on the actual health implications of vaping vs tobacco. Evidence from a new British report says vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco. One of the largest concerns with vaping is that the vapour produced by e-cigarettes by heating flavoured liquids contains ingredients, by-products and contaminants which could potentially be harmful to health. Studies however have rebutted the claim by showing these are found at very low levels in the actual air people breathe.
Smoking is currently the biggest killer in England and health officials and professionals widely agree that while quitting smoking altogether would be the best thing any smoker could do, many also agree that vaping and e-cigarettes provide a much healthier alternative to smoking tobacco.
Knowing that smoking is the number one killer and vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco many now also feel that spending tax payers money on funding the availability of e-cigarettes on the NHS is a justifiable cause as it would save thousands of lives.
What do you think? Should E-cigarettes be prescribed on the NHS?
