The ground-breaking decision by the NHS to prescribe e-cigarettes to smokers was one of the major discussion topics at World Vape Show London .
When the UK ’ s health regulator invited manufacturers to submit vape devices for approval , it made headlines around the globe .
It was seen as great news for the industry , while reaffirming the UK ’ s commitment to embracing reduced-risk products in the battle to drive down smoking rates .
However , as the London audience heard , the matter is not as clear cut as the initial euphoria over the move may have suggested .
The discussion panel identified a number of potential problems with the plan , stemming from the complex process required to get products approved for NHS use .
From a manufacturers point of view , the cost of obtaining a medical licence rules out all but the very biggest players .
The panel said the price of getting just one single product approved could cost upwards of £ 5M and take several years of investigations by the regulator .
Even though the NHS could be supplying the exact same products as are currently on the market , there is no getting around the exhaustive , long and costly approvals process .
You ’ re looking at probably three to five years with a cost of anywhere between five and ten million pounds and that is going to be a hard sell for many companies .
Dunne also warned that many in the healthcare community didn ’ t like that the vaping industry had come up with an effective means to help smokers quit … especially when they had failed to solve the problem for decades .
Daniel Pryor , head of programmes at the Adam Smith Institute , said the extended time delay between application and approval would mean NHS smokers being prescribed potentially less effective products than those currently available on the market .
Innovation has been the cornerstone of the vape industry and even if it took just three years to gain medical approval , the NHS products would be considerably outdated by then .
Pryor also said it would not look good from a PR perspective if the policy resulted in the NHS prescribing quit smoking products which had been manufactured by Big Tobacco companies .
Martin Cullip , from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance ’ s Consumer Center said news that the government was backing vaping could help convince more smokers to make the switch .
He said : “ For smokers who have read too many scare stories saying that vaping is dangerous , hearing that the government is backing e-cigarettes is a very good message indeed .”
UKVIA Director General John Dunne said : “ You ’ re looking at probably three to five years with a cost of anywhere between five and ten million pounds and that is going to be a hard sell for many companies .”
However , he warned that many doctors have said they would refuse to prescribe products which were made by Big Tobacco companies .
VMUSA1 l 131