Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people who smoke have access to (a) heat-not-burn tobacco and e-cigarettes and (b) other smoking cessation products.
Jane Ellison
The Government’s advice remains that the best thing a smoker can do is to quit and quit for good. Any smokers wanting to quit, with or without the help of products available on the market, are further advised to seek expert support and advice from their local stop smoking service. Smokers using the personalised support offered by stop smoking services are four times more likely to stop smoking and quit for good.
We recognise that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) help some smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes. Public Health England has been working with Local Stop Smoking Services encouraging them to be open to the use of e-cigarettes, where clients choose to use them to support their quit attempts, alone or alongside other nicotine replacement therapies and the behavioural therapy that the services offer.
The forthcoming tobacco control plan will consider the role of e-cigarettes and other harm reduction products in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England.
