UK: Call to License E-Cigarettes As Medical Products

During a debate about the recent STC report, which indicates that e-cigarettes are effective smoking cessation tools, an MP for Wales urged the government to put e-cigarettes forward for medical licensing.

Diane Caruana

September 10, 2018

Last August, the UK Science and Technology Committee (STC), released a report containing several evidence-based policy proposals for e-cigarettes. These proposals are aimed at tackling the current misconceptions about the devices, and positively transform the way vaping is viewed by businesses, institutions and the public alike.

Currently no e-cigarettes are licensed for medical use, therefore they cannot be recommended by GPs.

During a debate about the report in Parliament, Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith, said that currently no e-cigarettes are licensed for medical use, meaning that they cannot be recommended by GPs. Addressing the chairman of the STC Norman Lamb, Smith questioned whether the government is doing anything to this effect.

“I note that here in this report, it says that medically licensed e-cigarettes could assist smoking cessation efforts by making it easier for medical professionals to recommend them as a stop smoking treatment for patients. I think that’s really good,” said Smith.

“Does (Mr Lamb) know what the government is doing to encourage e-cigarette manufacturers to put forward products for licensing?” he asked, to which Mr Lamb responded: “I don’t think there’s anything in particular being done by the government to encourage organisations, that I’m aware of, to seek medical licensing.”

“But I think the prize here is that, if there was a medically licensed product, it would reach a proportion of current smokers who would be reassured that the medical license, in a sense, guaranteed that it would be a sensible step for them to take and a helpful one in giving up smoking,” he added.

The STC report recommendations are evidence based

In the report, the Committee is also proposing to review provisions in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, to include HnBs in the Government’s annual review of safer nicotine products, and also reassess the evidence supporting the ban on snus. “This report dovetails with the government’s Tobacco Control Plan commitment to back innovative products in its drive to encourage smokers to quit, and its recommendations are evidence-based and designed to maximise the benefits of safer nicotine delivery.”

Read Further: South Wales Argus