There’s still time to have your voice heard as part of a consultation that will have huge and lasting ramifications on the use of vaping in UK smoking cessation services.
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is urging as many businesses and individuals with an interest in getting vaping the recognition it deserves within healthcare settings to have their say before the consultation closes on Friday, August 6.
It is being run by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a non-departmental division of the Department for Health which advises Government and healthcare professionals on best practice.
NICE has published draft guidance calling for better recognition for the important role vaping plays in helping smokers to quit and to place vaping devices on a par with other nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) such as gums and patches and wants individuals and organisations to give their opinions on the draft guidance.
The guidelines bring together and update all NICE’s previous guidelines on using tobacco, including smokeless tobacco. It covers nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes, but does not cover using tobacco products such as ‘heat not burn’ tobacco to help people stop smoking or reduce their harm from smoking.
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA, said: “The last 12 months has seen a groundswell of support coming from the health sector for the use of vaping devices alongside other NRTs to help reduce smoking prevalence in the UK.
“This draft guidance from NICE carries enormous significance and chimes perfectly with the UKVIA’s own work offering help and advice to healthcare workers in cessation services and other areas on the correct use of vaping devices to give the smoker being helped the best possible chance of quitting their habits.”
He added: “As an organisation focused on tobacco harm reduction through vaping we urge everybody, whether an individual, a business or not for profit, to take part in this consultation and play your part in getting vaping the recognition within healthcare that it deserves.”
How to respond:
The deadline for comments is 5pm 6 August.
Comments can be submitted by organisations or by individuals.
Comments from individuals will be considered but no formal response issued.
If providing a response on behalf of an organisation, then that organisation must be registered as a stakeholder. This can be done via https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/stakeholder-registration
- Information on who can register as a stakeholder: https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/register-as-a-stakeholder/who-can-register-as-a-stakeholder
- Step-by-step guidance on registering as a stakeholder: https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/register-your-organisation-as-a-stakeholder/step-by-step-guide-to-registering-as-a-stakeholder
Comments must be submitted formally using NICE’s template form: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/GID-NG10086/documents/comments-form-2
- A clear guidance checklist can be found on page one of the comment submission form
- You will need to complete, on page two, the name of your organisation, your name (or that of the person completing the form), and any past or current, direct or indirect, links to, or funding from, the tobacco industry
- Comments can be entered in the table on page three
The completed form should be emailed, as a Word document (not a .pdf) to tobaccoupdate@nice.org.uk
Ends.