Ecig To Be Provided By NHS?

A brand of e-cigarette has been approved by the UK medicines regulator and will be promoted to help people stop smoking.

20:47 06 January 2016

e-Voke, a brand of e-cigarette produced by British American Tobacco, has been approved by the UK medicines regulator to be marketed as an aid to help people stop smoking. The approval could mean that it will be prescribed on the NHS.

 

Public Health England says e-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco and help smokers quit.

 

Prof Kevin Fenton, National Director of Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England, added that e-cigarettes have become the most popular quitting aid in England.

 

However, the British Medical Association argued that their benefits are yet to be established as e-cigarettes are relatively new.

 

Dr Tim Ballard of the Royal College of GPs said: "Potentially, there may be a place for the prescription of e-Voke as part of a smoking cessation programme, but GPs would be very wary of prescribing them until there was clear evidence of their safety and of their efficacy in helping people to quit," he said.

 

"At the moment there isn't the evidence and the guidance hasn't been written to help GPs make those decisions."