As reported by The Times, a new study has revealed that persuading half of England’s smokers to switch to vaping could save the NHS £500m a year
More than six million people — 13.6% of the adult population — smoke tobacco, which remains the biggest cause of premature deaths in England. Smoking causes about 506,000 hospital admissions and 74,600 deaths each year, costing the NHS about £2.5bn a year.
Persuading smokers to switch to vaping is a key element of a new government strategy to reduce smoking rates, with ministers launching a new scheme that will offer a million smokers “vape kits” to help them to quit tobacco.
New research, led by Brunel University, found that if a traditional smoker switched to e-cigarettes it would lead to a 70% reduction in smoking-related disease because they would no longer be exposed to the cancer-causing chemicals in traditional cigarettes.
The study, published in the British Journal of Healthcare Management, suggests that if 50% of those people were to switch to e-cigarettes, hospital admissions would reduce by 13%, translating to savings of £518m.
The figure was calculated by looking at data relating to smoking as a cause of death, as well as the risk of developing five diseases as a result of smoking: cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Professor Francesco Moscone, the lead author of the report, said: “Such illnesses put significant burdens on the NHS, which we know is already under increasing pressure.”
He added that while the long-term impact of vaping is still unknown, previous research has shown it results in a 90% reduction in exposure to chemicals that are significant contributors to health risks.
The NHS recommends the use of e-cigarettes as a way of quitting tobacco for good. However, medical leaders including Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, have stressed that vaping is not risk-free and should be avoided unless it is used as a tool to quit smoking. Ministers are also concerned about a rise in youth vaping, and Rishi Sunak has pledged to tighten regulations.
The new study used data from NHS Digital, the Royal College of Physicians and the Office for National Statistics to identify the prevalence of smoking in each region of England.
The lowest rate of smoking is in the southeast (12.2% compared with 14.1% in the Midlands, 14.6% in the northwest and 15% in the northeast and Yorkshire.
In the northeast and Yorkshire alone, 50% of smokers switching to a vape could save £148m, researchers said.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: “This study provides further evidence that by providing one million vapes to smokers to help them quit, the government’s ‘swap to stop’ campaign would help reduce pressure on our overstretched NHS.
“However, although smoking costs the NHS well over £2bn a year, the biggest benefit to public finances from reductions in smoking won’t be to the NHS, but in reductions in spending on social security and social care due to smoking, which together amount to more than double the cost of smoking to the NHS.”
Be the first to comment