NEWS
E-CIGARETTES
A VITAL TOOL FOR EU
SMOKING CESSATION
VAPING COULD SOON USURP TRADITIONAL NICOTINE
REPLACEMENT THERAPIES ACROSS EUROPE
- BY GORDON STRIBLING -
A study published in peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Control
suggests that e-cigarettes could be on-course to replace nicotine
replacement therapy and counselling as the quitting aid of choice
throughout the European Union.
Perhaps the most notable takeaway from the study was that
while there has been a decrease in the use of smoking cessation
services and pharmacotherapy (i.e. prescription treatments
like Champix and Zyban), e-cigarette use has increased by six
percent.
Researchers drew upon data gleaned from the 2012 and 2017
waves of the Eurobarometer survey. The survey consisted of face-
to-face interviews with around 1,000 residents of each country.
The study conducted by the Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit
at Imperial College considered variables within European nations,
such as age and access to smoking-cessation services.
According to the research, young people were more likely to have
used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation but less likely to have
accessed a smoking cessation service like the one provided by
the NHS.
THE PAPER CONCLUDED:
“This highlights the need to evaluate [e-cigarettes] efficacy and
impact on individual abstinence as well as their population-level
implications and to explore whether they may be displacing
standard cessation assistance.”
The findings echo much of what we already know about the
success of e-cigarettes in helping smokers to quit. A study
published in the British Medical Journal in January found that
40 percent of people who attempted to quit smoking did so with
e-cigarettes. And a study published in Addictive Behaviours found
that daily e-cigarette users were three times more likely to quit
than those who never used e-cigarettes.
Little, if any of this, is news to the vaping community. But it does
raise an interesting question: Should health practitioners in other
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European nations follow the UK’s lead in encouraging smokers
to consider e-cigarettes alongside more traditional stop-smoking
therapies?
Research conducted by University College London [UCL] for
Smoking in Britain found that success rates in quitting were higher
in England in the first six months of 2017 than the average rate in
the preceding decade.
This improvement was seen exclusively among people with lower
socio-economic status. This group has historically been the most
resistant to stop-smoking campaigns and other tobacco control
methods, both in the UK and Europe as a whole.
While the government, academics and the NHS have been
vocal in their support of e-cigarettes, it’s important to note that
the devices themselves are only a part of a broader initiative.
The highest success is seen where vapers access some form of
support, as reiterated by the authors of the UCL study:
“E-cigarettes are widely available and popular, together with
a wide variety of medically licensed cessation aids, there is a
behavioural support service free at the point of access available
in most areas of the country, and tobacco control mass media
campaigns are frequently run, including national quitting events,
such as Stoptober.”
Much of this behavioural support is provided by knowledgeable
and passionate vape shop staff. A study conducted by the
University of East Anglia and published in the International Journal
of Environmental Research and Public Health highlighted the role
vape shop staff play in helping smokers transition to vaping. Lead
researcher, Dr Emma Ward, said: “We found that vape shops
provided effective behavioural support to help quitters stay smoke
free. Shop assistants were really keen to understand customers’
smoking preferences and give tailored advice about the most
appropriate products. And they were an ongoing point of contact
for practical help.”
Supportive vape shop staff can be found all over Europe. We
often talk about the vaping ‘community’ and that’s exactly what