Stoptober backs e-cigarettes as quit smoking aid

The annual Stoptober campaign in England is embracing e-cigarettes for the first time and will feature vaping in its TV adverts.

The campaign website, which encourages people to quit smoking for 28 days in October, says: ‘E-cigarettes are a great way to combat nicotine cravings and carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes’.

Although there is currently little evidence on either the long-term benefits or harms of e-cigarettes, they were found to be the most popular tool for quitting during last year's campaign.

Some 53% of people used them, helping push the numbers of people taking part in Stoptober since its launch in 2012 to over 1.5 million.

The PCRS-UK position:

PCRS-UK supports the Stoptober campaign. Based on the current evidence PCRS-UK agrees that that e-cigarettes are definitely less harmful than smoking tobacco and should be considered as a positive option available to support people to quit tobacco smoking.

Resources you can use to help your patients quit:

• Stoptober campaign materials HERE
• Primary Care Respiratory Update article on tobacco dependency  as  a long term condition HERE

PCRS-UK tobacco dependency resources wallchart HERE