The UK PHE Fallout
Vaping is 95% safer, how did the UK digest the news?
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by Dave Cross
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Gerry Stimson was the first after the report’s release to pour cold water on the idea of medicalising ecigs. “I wouldn’t put it on the top of my priority list,” began the esteemed expert. “I think this issue of prescribing is a little bit diversionary.”
As it stands there are no vaping products that are licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Moreover, if this were ever to be a requirement, the costs involved are prohibitive to all but the largest of companies. Plus, even if a product were to obtain a license, doctors can not prescribe products until they have received authorisation from the NHS that they will carry the cost.
The Daily Mail wrote: “In mere months, vaping has gone from being condemned as a mortal danger to being hailed as one of the great life-savers of our age; a potential 'game-changer', as PHE puts it, in the battle to persuade people to quit smoking.” But, they add, “why should the taxpayer be expected to fund other people's vices by paying for e-cigarettes?”
One assumes they hold a similar opinion regarding the use of methadone to encourage heroin addicts to quit injecting the opiate. Regardless of the stance, they hit the nail on the head when they continue: “Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will have some nifty footwork to do if he plans to throw his weight behind e-cigarettes courtesy of the NHS. After all, he was a driving force behind the EU-wide tougher regulation of vaping, which is to come into force in 2017, when it will drive up prices and almost certainly put smaller producers out of business.”
Channel 4 News with Professor Ann McNeill
The common sense in the Mail continued unabated: “With the latest evidence showing that vaping is 60 per cent more successful than other methods of giving up smoking (nicotine chewing gums, patches or willpower) surely the sensible thing would be to tear up the directive before it takes effect. But then when did Brussels ever take the sensible course? When the EU juggernaut starts rolling, with its cargo of red tape, no power on Earth can stop it.”
Professor West interviewed by Associated Press
The impact of the report has resonated in Hertfordshire as the County Council has put its weight into backing vaping. Their representative for health, Teresa Heritage, said: “E-cigarettes are not completely risk-free, but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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