Campaign urging healthcare professionals to encourage smokers switch to vaping launched
A new campaign has been launched to better equip healthcare professionals with educational materials to help patients swap to stop.
The London Tobacco Alliance has launched a new campaign aimed at better equipping healthcare professionals in London to support the Swap to Stop smoking scheme introduced by the government.
The campaign focuses on educating medical staff about the effectiveness and relative safety of using vapes as a source of clean nicotine and a successful quit smoking tool.
Everything you need to know about the campaign
The London Tobacco Alliance has launched the campaign in collaboration with the NHS and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). The campaign has been launched to coincide with the publishing of the first-of its kind position statement on vaping for London.
The statement calls for those working with adult smokers to encourage them to swap to vaping to stop smoking. Scientific research from the UK and across the globe concludes that vaping is around 95% safer than smoking tobacco for adult smokers.
The London Tobacco Alliance has developed educational materials for GPs, nurses, surgeons, and other medical staff to help their patients across GP surgeries in London switch to vaping from smoking.
Smoking remains the primary cause of premature death in the UK, causing the death of approximately 64,000 people each year.
The social disparities associated with smoking are also significant. People who smoke and have mental health conditions die ten to twenty years earlier, with smoking being the leading factor.
As per the Khan Review published in 2022, making smoking obsolete in England would lift around 2.6 million adults and 1 million children out of poverty.
Encouraging the use of vapes as a quit smoking tool is of utmost importance for healthcare professionals in London.
For those who quit smoking, the risk of heart attack is halved after one year, reducing the likelihood of ending up in the hospital and significantly reducing the risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease and other health risks.
The London Tobacco Alliance has launched a campaign encouraging patient vaping
The London Tobacco Alliance has launched a new campaign aimed at better equipping healthcare professionals in London to support the Swap to Stop smoking scheme introduced by UK Government.
What is the Swap to Stop campaign?
The Swap to Stop scheme is a pioneering initiative designed to encourage one million smokers in England to switch from cigarettes to vapes.
Almost one in five smokers in England will be provided with a free vape starter kit, coupled with support, as part of this world-first national scheme to help the government meet its ambition of being smoke-free by 2030, reducing smoking rates to 5% or less in the long term.
Local authorities will be given the opportunity to participate in the program later in the year, enabling them to create customised initiatives that cater to their specific requirements and give priority to certain populations.
A separate scheme in which pregnant women will also receive financial incentives up to £400 to give up cigarettes, was announced at the same time by the government.
Download the London Tobacco Alliance comms pack
If you are a healthcare professional or work with adult smokers, you can download the communications pack to help drive quit attempts using nicotine vaping.
This pack contains videos, social media posts, and pre-written texts that you can use to encourage smokers to visit Stop Smoking London to find quit smoking help, access local services and more.
Stop Smoking London is the support arm of the London Tobacco Alliance and a collaborative effort between London’s local authorities.
