FEATURE
LAST YEAR FELT LIKE A WATERSHED FOR VAPING
BUT IT ’ S ONLY THE BEGINNING
Words : John Dunne , Director General , UKVIA
Last year felt like a huge watershed moment for those of us who advocate vaping as the best method for helping people quit smoking .
Not only was there a significant political shift in favour of vaping , but you could feel the groundswell of support emanating from the healthcare sector .
Key developments included vape devices being trialled for smokers attending A & E departments and the Department for Health announcing that e-cigs might soon be prescribed to smokers .
Then , at the end of 2021 , we had the long-awaited smoking prevalence figures from the Office of National Statistics that showed not only that adult smoking rates were down , but that vaping had hit an all time UK high .
While all of this is important , to me it feels like we are still at the beginning of our mission , or at least on the first rung of the ladder .
Lots of work and campaigning is still needed so that vaping – and all the hard-working businesses that keep the industry going – receives the widespread acceptance it deserves .
So , here are a few of the challenges and opportunities we face in 2022 :
TOBACCO AND RELATED PRODUCTS REVIEW ( TRPR ) – this much delayed report will look at how the UK can tackle smoking prevalence in a post-Brexit world , where we can govern ourselves free of the shackles of the EU . The UKVIA submitted a landmark package of recommendations to the TRPR consultation , called a Blueprint for Better Regulation , aimed at maximising the public health benefits of vaping and bolstering ambitions for a “ Smokefree 2030 ”.
TOBACCO CONTROL PLAN ( TCP ) – another item delayed from last year , this is the process by which the government aims to tackle smoking , which remains the single largest cause of preventable death and the biggest cause of cancer worldwide . The UKVIA has been at the centre of political debates on the TCP , briefing ministers and MPs on the benefits of vaping and supporting the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping .
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