An Assessment of the Provision of Vaping Products by UK Stop Smoking Services Using Data From Freedom of Information...

Introduction Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease and arises due to prolonged and repeated inhalational exposure to chemical toxicants found in cigarette smoke. Within this context, vaping products, also termed e‑cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems, have been positioned by public health bodies as being substantially less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Furthermore, evidence also suggests that vaping products may be more effective in supporting smoking cessation than traditional support such as nicotine replacement therapy. The UK National Health Service "Swap to Stop" initiative operationalised a harm reduction approach to support smokers' use of vaping products in switching from cigarette smoking, by providing vaping starter kits via Stop Smoking Services (SSS). Objectives The aims of this study were to assess the provision of vaping products and provider-reported aggregate quit rates for vaping products compared with other forms of smoking cessation support, among UK SSS, using data obtained from Freedom of Information requests. Methods Questionnaires were sent to 43 local authorities in the UK and, of these, 31 (72.1%) responded. Two authorities (4.7%) withheld permission for the information they provided to be shared or reused for news/reporting. Consequently, responses from 29 (67.4%) local authorities were analysed. Results Vaping products are now provided to smokers by the majority (n = 26; 89.7%) of SSS providers, and this is predominantly through the provision of open systems. The majority of providers provide a variety of flavoured vaping products, including fruit, mint/menthol, and tobacco flavours, and among those providing flavour information, 78.9% of service providers (n = 15) reported that 'fruit' flavours were most popular or most frequently provided. Quit rates were variable across the different service providers, ranging from 43% to 77% for vaping products and from 35% to 81% for other forms of cessation support. Among those providers who reported quit rates for both vaping products and other forms of support, the average quit rates were 61.5% for vaping products and 56.2% for other forms of support (p = 0.04). Conclusions Overall, these findings support that vaping products may provide smoking cessation support to smokers that exceeds that of other forms of support and that flavoured vaping products are highly provided and utilised by UK SSS providers.