Dr Farrimond said: “There are real opportunities for stop smoking
services to use e-cigarettes more actively to help people give up
smoking, but for this to happen policies around the country need
to be consistent, and people need to share best practice and know
what others are doing.”
We spoke to the IBVTA at the Vaper Expo UK – The Return about
how this could be done. Chief Executive Gillian Golden revealed
that during Stoptober 2018, the vaping industry saw more outreach
from stop smoking services than ever, and this could be an inroad.
Positive messaging from the top down seems to be a workable
method for normalising e-cigarettes in the services.
“Public Health England have been very forthright in their support for
vaping. And now, with so much visibility of that support on a national
level, it just needs to trickle down to a local level. Support still varies
from authority to authority, it depends on who runs the stop smoking
services. Dr Farrimond’s recent study drew attention to the fact that
there’s no national policy on what makes a stop smoking service
vape-friendly. And even though the centre’s staff might be really
positive about vaping, they may not know how to go about being
vape friendly.”
“More stop smoking services are coming to the IBVTA to learn from our
experience, and how our members have collaborated with their local
service. And there’s been a real uptick in the services contacting us
this Stoptober versus last year. That’s down to the positive messages
coming from PHE, the Science and Technology Committee and their
own public health networks. It’s hard to ignore evidence from areas
like Greater Manchester, where significant progress has been made.”
Despite the beginnings of a more cooperative time for vaping and
the services, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of government
cuts. Even with services learning what needs to be done and
tightening their ties to vaping, they need tangible clout.
Like all unresolved issues in the vape trade and beyond, the
learning process is ongoing. With the right funding and other
forms of investment, vaping can and will be a huge asset.
“There are real
opportunities for stop
smoking services to
use e-cigarettes more
actively to help people
give up smoking”
- Dr Hannah Farrimond
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