The data collected by NHS for the Stop smoking services shows drastic changes over the years, from 2016-2019. The average cost spent on one quitter was around £450 whereas now it is more than double.

Local councils in London have recorded their count of people who have quitted smoking with the help of stop smoking services. These results were recorded in a comparison of 2016 and 2019.

Redbridge council had 41 quitters but at a total cost of £197,975. £4,828.65 were spent on each quitter. From £375 in 2016 to £4,828.65 in 2019. This difference is actually hard to ignore.

Brent council also recorded the number of their quitters and the cost spent on it, they had 5 successful quitting cases but the total cost was £101,773 which makes it around £20,350 spent on each quitter. Whereas the amount recorded that was spent on each quitter in 2016 was £812.

Along with the decrease in smokers gradually there’s also an increase in quitters using E-cigarettes as an alternative to their need of smoke. It is proven that many smokers have been able to actually quit smoking when they started vaping. Out of 3.6 million vapers in UK 1.7 million are smokers who have quitted smoking with the help of vaping. A study done in January 2019 showed the effectiveness of vaping in quitting smoking without stop smoking services, it was told that Nicotine Replacement therapy and patches are not as effective as vaping on its own.

Vice Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping, Gareth Johnson MP said: “We need to be more positive about vaping. This latest NHS data further demonstrates the positive role of vaping on our nation’s health. Not only are e-cigarettes helping record numbers of smokers to quit because they’re more effective than traditional patches and gums, but they can also save the NHS, local councils and the taxpayer money if more widely used as part of local stop smoking services. This is an open goal and we should be doing everything we can to ensure that e-cigarettes are more accessible to the UK’s 7 million remaining smokers.”

If providing vaping alternatives to millions of smokers out there along with proper counselling can actually help them quit this deadly habit completely, why is there a delay?