Background
Smoking is the single most entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability and death in the UK. The government has set an ambition for England to be smokefree by 2030, taken to indicate adult prevalence of smoking of 5% or lower. Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation (2023) sets out the proposed actions the government will take to protect future generations from the harms of smoking, by creating the first smokefree generation.
About the Programme
- The Swap to Stop programme aims to provide 1 million smokers across England with vape starter kits by March 2025. This is dependent on the smoker agreeing to receive behavioural support.
- The Swap to Stop programme acknowledges the variation in stop smoking support models on offer at local levels. The programme has been designed to give localities a wide choice of product types and vape vendors.
Methods of Delivering the Programme
This programme will support local systems to provide a more attractive and effective vape offer to smokers, with three routes of delivering vapes alongside behavioural support:
- Direct supply of vape starter kits to local authority stop smoking services (LSSS).
- Direct supply to local authority led partnerships.
Myth Busting
As vaping products do not contain or burn tobacco, the harmful chemicals found in tobacco are either not present or are present at much lower levels. Evidence has clearly shown that vaping is far less harmful than smoking. Switching completely from smoking to vaping is likely to have substantial health benefits over continuing to smoke. However, vaping products are not risk-free and should not be used by people who do not already smoke.
The UK has some of the tightest regulations on vaping products in the world under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Products legally sold in the UK go through an approval process with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. However, illegal vaping products can be purchased within the UK. To make sure you are using a UK-regulated product, always buy vaping products from reputable retailers such as specialist shops or access them via your local stop smoking service.
When vaping products are used normally, it is unlikely there will be any harm to those around you. In comparison to exposure to second-hand smoke from cigarettes, the risk is significantly reduced. Some people with respiratory conditions like asthma may be sensitive to large clouds of vapour so people using vaping products should be mindful of where and when they vape, following relevant guidance and signage.
Although addictive, nicotine is not the cause of smoking-related diseases such as cancer. Almost all the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 70 of which are known to cause cancer. Using vaping products means you can consume nicotine in a cleaner and less harmful way. By gradually reducing the strength of nicotine in your vaping product, you can eventually stop using nicotine altogether.
Fires caused by vaping products are rare, about as likely as fires caused by mobile phones. Where they do occur, it is likely the battery has malfunctioned. It’s best to always use the charger supplied with the vaping product and avoid charging it for extended periods of time, such as overnight. Always dispose of vaping products responsibly at a household waste or recycling bins. If you are unsure how to dispose of your vaping product, ask your local vape shop.
The cost of vaping products can vary, with starter kits for reusable products priced from around £20- not much more than a packet of cigarettes. However, after this initial investment, re-fills for vaping products are just a few pounds.
(Yorkshire Cancer Research, n.d.)
Swap 2 Stop Partnership Working- Coming Soon!
Would you like to offer free vape starter kits to users in your service?
This slide deck will give you more information about how the programme is delivered locally in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.
If you would like to register your interest in free vape starter kits, please fill out the form.
Current Partners
