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UK Health Secretary Plans Vaping Revolution to Kill Financially-Related Health Disparities

Last year, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) updated their guidance on how to license electronic cigarettes as medicinal products, which has paved the way for the products to be prescribed to smokers wishing to quit.

Diane Caruana

August 19, 2022

THR groups are calling on UK authorities urging them to strive to influence the WHO’s stance.

Published in October by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the guidance states that any approved vaping products, will be made available for doctors to prescribe. “This country continues to be a global leader on healthcare, whether it’s our Covid-19 vaccine rollout or our innovative public health measures reducing people’s risk of serious illness,” said Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

The Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) has welcomed the changes, which are mainly related to “quality standards for dose uniformity, non-clinical toxicological data requirements, and the design of the clinical pharmacokinetic studies.” The IBVTA hopes that the updates, which reflect the changes in the regulatory environment post-Brexit, will make it easier for vape businesses to apply for medicinal licensing, a standard which was previously tough to achieve.

The fact that the NHS will now be able to prescribe vaping products to smokers wishing to quit, once again puts England as a leader of the tobacco harm reduction movement. Javid believes that it is a “moral outrage” that England’s richest people are living significantly longer than their poorer counterparts due to access to harm reduction products.

To this effect he plans to announce further measures that address the root causes of such disparities and it is believed that these include a “vaping revolution” that facilitates vape prescriptions by GP’s.

The UK’s progressive vape policies

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) and WeVape have recently joined forces to praise the UK Government for embracing the science with regards to tobacco harm reduction. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to wage a war on vaping and other safer nicotine alternatives through campaigns and such initiatives, the UK has maintained its position via progressive vape policies. To this effect, whilst commending the UK’s approach, the groups are calling on UK authorities urging them to strive to influence the WHO’s stance.

“The UK is the world leader in harm reduction and provides an excellent example for the rest of the world on efficient smoking cessation through vaping. Our government has chosen a path that has proven to be fruitful, with science to back that up. In the lead up to WHO’s conference in November, the UK needs to reinforce its commitment to vaping, and encourage other countries to do the same,” said Mark Oates, Director of WeVape.