Earlier this month, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), announced the launch of VApril, the first ever UK nationwide awareness and education campaign sponsored by the vaping sector.
“VApril is a campaign to encourage more people to quit smoking through taking up vaping during April. VApril is organised by the UK Vaping Industry Association, the country’s leading forum for supporting, developing and promoting the circa £1bn vaping sector,” reads the campaign’s website.
As part of the campaign’s launch, yesterday a number of MPs and members of the House of Lords, led by Mark Pawsey MP for Rugby and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for E-Cigarettes, congregated outside the Houses of Parliament, with the aim of attracting the public’s attention on the topic.
“Vaping is now recognised as one of the best ways to quit smoking and therefore presents a major opportunity to make a significant and positive impact on the public health of the nation. Yet only one in 10 people understand the relative minor risk of vaping compared to smoking,” said Mark Pawsey.
“Even in our own Parliament vapers are treated the same as smokers, forced into outdoor areas far removed from their places of work. It is time we practice what we preach and make Parliament ‘vape friendly.’ That is why we are seeking to change the rules in Parliament so we can set an example to the public and businesses across the country.”
The VApril Campaign
The face of the campaign, renowned tv doctor Dr Christian Jessen referred to the data published by PHE indicating that “e-cigarettes may be contributing to at least 20,000 successful new quits per year,” adding that therefore as a doctor it is disappointing to see that so many smokers have not yet tried e-cigarettes.
“I’m delighted to be joining forces with the UK Vaping Industry Association to launch VApril. VApril is all about helping more smokers to make a successful and permanent switch over. I personally believe vaping has overwhelming potential to help smokers break their habit, and this is important because stopping the habit is the single most significant step that people can make to improve their health. We hope that smokers across the UK will put down their cigarettes for a month, take the VApril Challenge and give themselves the best chance of quitting smoking for good.” he added.
Take the VApril Challenge
The campaign will call upon all UK smokers to “Take the VApril Challenge”, which will consist of vaping classes at vape specialist stores, where smokers can learn all about the different harm reduction products available, and also about the most effective methods to quit smoking. The UKVIA has also released an accompanying educative guide, Vaping to break the Smoking Habit, in order to assist smokers through this challenge.
