Smokers should be offered advice on vaping to help them quit, says medical advisory body

The guidance says evidence suggests that e-cigarettes have similar effectiveness to short- and long-acting nicotine replacement therapies in helping people to stop smoking. NICE says that people should be able to use them to help stop smoking if they wanted to do so, but patients who do choose to use e-cigarettes to help them quit should be warned that their impact on long-term health is still unknown.

NICE recommends that more research should be carried out, including whether vaping devices could be used in pregnancy.

The medical advisory body also recommends that stop-smoking services provide voucher-based incentive schemes worth up to £400 to help pregnant women quit, arguing that such an approach was “both effective and cost-effective”. However, women would only receive the vouchers if their smoking status was validated, according to the guidance.

Dr Paul Chrisp, NICE’s Centre for Guidelines director, said: “We need to use every tool in our arsenal to reduce smoking rates, including education, behavioural support, financial incentives, and e-cigarettes if people are interested in using them. Combined, we hope that people who smoke will feel enabled to give up tobacco products once and for all.”

The consultation on the new guidance runs until 6 August.