A report just out from Brunel University London reveals that the NHS could save more than £500m-a-year if half of England’s adult smokers switched to vaping instead.
The findings closely echo the findings of the first economic impact assessment of the UK vaping industry which was carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) on behalf of the UKVIA and published in January.
The new study was conducted by Prof Francesco Moscone, a business economics expert from the university, and published in the British Journal of Healthcare Management.
Prof Moscone calculated that a traditional smoker transitioning to reduced risk products (RRPs) such as vaping would have a 70% reduction in smoking-related diseases because they would no longer be exposed to the harmful chemicals in traditional cigarettes.
He said: “If smokers transitioned to RRPs, it would significantly reduce the pressure on the NHS and free up much-needed hospital resources for other treatments.
“Under a 50% conversion scenario, with half of smokers turning to RRPs, the NHS would save an estimated £518 million in an average year. If the conversion rate was just 10%, the NHS would save £103 million.”
The Cebr Economic Impact Report examined data from 2019 and concluded that the NHS had saved £322 million in healthcare costs because of the numbers of smokers who had switched to vaping instead.
It estimated that if just 10% of smokers switched to vaping in 2020 the NHS could have an additional £140 million and that figure would have leapt to a £698 million saving, if half the smoking population swapped to vaping.
John Dunne, Director General of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: “We are delighted that this new research from Brunel University London reinforces the findings of our own Economic Impact Report.
“The potential savings to the NHS from smokers switching to vaping are enormous and at a time when the NHS is desperately crying out for more funding and government budgets are squeezed so tightly, this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.
“I sincerely hope that these two reports will give the Government more impetus to really push the positive impacts that vaping has for the health of our nation and the finances of our country.
“Only last week ASH revealed shocking data which showed that four in ten smokers wrongly believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking – up from one in five in 2019.
“Misinformation in the mainstream media about the relative health risks of smoking and vaping was one of the reasons given for this increasing lack of knowledge and unless the Government acts to educate smokers about the real risks then lives will continue to be needlessly lost.”
ENDS