{"id":425,"date":"2018-12-14T07:12:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T07:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=425"},"modified":"2023-12-08T12:36:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T12:36:07","slug":"uk-vaping-progression-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electrictobacconist.co.uk\/blog\/uk-vaping-progression-2018","title":{"rendered":"2018: A Year in UK Vaping Progression"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of <\/span>vaping<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in the United Kingdom started 2018 with a bang \u2014 tremendous news for supporters and lovers of e-cigarettes who have used them to reclaim control over their lives by finally unshackling themselves from the fierce burden of tobacco and all the unhealthy and downright deadly risks it carries. It came from one of the highest medical authorities in the land, Public Health England (PHE), and as the otherwise tumultuous year rolled on and Britain remained convulsed by the divisions, fevers and vast uncertainties brought about by Brexit, the news continued to get even better for vaping. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was one of the best 12 months for e-cigarettes this country has ever seen. And it comes at a time when most other countries are either stalling or going backwards in their efforts to arrest what is the largest global public health crisis, which kills millions of people every year \u2014 by urging smokers to vape instead. “The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 7 million people a year,” <\/span>says<\/a><\/strong> the World Health Organization. “More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to secondhand smoke.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Here in the UK, we do things differently, and at Electric Tobacconist UK, we closely followed all the news and developments about vaping during the year, in addition to supporting campaigns to help get people off cigarettes, attending vaping conferences and speaking to leaders who are helping to propel this rapidly expanding sector forward. We conducted interviews with everyone from prison authorities that are using vaping to keep their formerly smoking inmates happy to global health chiefs with responsibility for tobacco and vaping advisories around the world. We do this so that we are better informed about what we do and offer to our customers, and as part of our ongoing efforts to inform people about vaping in a reliable, credible and professional manner via our popular blog. <\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the Way for Public Health<\/b><\/h2>\n

In February, PHE published an updated advisory on vaping following initial advice issued three years earlier, which it admitted had been daring in its backing of e-cigarettes as an effective smoking-cessation method \u2014 one that caused people around the world to think again and start taking vaping seriously as a public health aid. “Back in 2015, the bold conclusions of our previous e-cigarette report were controversial in providing qualified support for the use of [electronic cigarettes] but have since contributed to a shift in international opinion,” the advisory body <\/span>said<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

So what did PHE say in its vaping update? The main takeaways following further investigations into e-cigarettes by a panel of leading and independent tobacco experts <\/span>found that<\/span><\/a> “vaping poses only a small fraction of the risks of smoking and switching completely from smoking to vaping conveys substantial health benefits” and that “e-cigarettes could be contributing to at least 20,000 successful new quits per year and possibly many more.” The tobacco experts also discovered during their evidence review that there had been an improved success rate in people quitting smoking by taking up vaping instead, and that this had led to a rapid fall in smoking rates around the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Our animation shows the difference between e-cigarettes and cigarettes. Read our blog on our latest evidence update here: https:\/\/t.co\/cXLh82thcd<\/strong><\/a> #EcigEvidence<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OpgCZ3aSbD<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 Public Health England (@PHE_uk) February 6, 2018<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n