Insights into what people think: being smart with advice on smoking

The UK is admired internationally for its determination to tackle smoking; in 2019, only around 14% of adults in the UK smoked (Office for National Statistics, 2019; Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 2021), and more can be done to accelerate this trend, to support the national ambition for a Smokefree 2030 (Smokefree Action Coalition, 2022). The fall in smoking rates has been achieved with a comprehensive range of tobacco control measures, including smokefree legislation, raising the age of sale for tobacco, banning cigarette displays and plain packaging. The UK's approach to the use of e-cigarettes (vapes) has also played a part. In September 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID, 2022a) published the last in their series of evidence updates on nicotine vaping. This extensive report gives assurance on comparative safety when measured against smoking, and recommends that health professionals do all they can to encourage patients who smoke to switch to vaping (OHID, 2022a).