E-cigarettes may be prescribed on the NHS to help smokers quit
Whilst e-cigarettes are not risk free, they are believed to be less harmful that smoking tobacco - so ministers are considering making them available on the health service.
Doctors may soon be able to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS in a bid to help smokers give up tobacco for good.
Smokers trying to kick the habit may soon find that their GP can make an e-cigarette available to them on prescription, after the government has said it is considering making vapes available on the health service.
Guidance from the medicines regulator is due to be updated in England, and the addition of e-cigarettes is on the governments’ agenda.
If e-cigarettes were to be made available, it would be a world-first – with England becoming the first country to offer licensed vapes to patients via its health service.
Pointing to statistics that say 64,000 people died from smoking-related causes in 2019, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says the government wants to help people kick the habit – and think this is the way forward.
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Whilst vaping products are not risk-free themselves and contain nicotine, just like cigarettes, some experts do believe they are less harmful than smoking tobacco.
According to Ash.org, there are around 6.9 million adult smokers in the UK. The organisation also notes that since the 70s the proportion of people who have never smoked has increased massively – from 37.4% in 1974 to 60.4% in 2019.
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Meanwhile here ere in Manchester, it’s estimated by Manchester.gov that there are around 91,500 smokers aged 18 and over – equivalent to 21.7%.
Speaking on the plans to introduce e-cigarettes to the NHS, Mr Javid told The Mirror: “This country continues to be a global leader on healthcare, whether it’s our Covid-19 vaccine rollout saving lives or our innovative public health measures reducing people’s risk of serious illness.
“Opening the door to a licensed e-cigarette prescribed on the NHS has the potential to tackle the stark disparities in smoking rates across the country, helping people stop smoking wherever they live and whatever their background.”
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The government has also said that e-cigarettes are “highly effective” in helping people quit, pointing to research that shows more smokers choose vapes (27.2%) than patches and gum (18.2%).
New rules from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would mean in order for vapes to be approved for use on the NHS, firms would have to ask the watchdog – just as drugs and vaccine producers do.
Once an e-cigarette is granted MHRA approval, it would then be up to doctors to decide on an individual case basis whether a prescription would be suitable for a patient.
Deborah Arnott, of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “Just as the MHRA led the world in licensing vaccines for COVID-19, today it is leading the world by backing medicinal licensing of e-cigarettes.
“This is entirely justified, as the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has pointed out, smoking is likely to have caused more premature deaths in the UK last year than the Covid pandemic.
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“Thanks to vaccines, Covid-19 is being brought under control, but smoking will kill as many people this year as last.
“With nearly 7 million smokers in the UK, smoking will continue to kill people for many years to come until we make smoking obsolete.
“Smokers find it hard to quit, taking on average 30 attempts to succeed, which is why we need new tools in the toolbox, such as medicinally licensed e-cigarettes.”
“Thanks to vaccines, Covid-19 is being brought under control, but smoking will kill as many people this year as last.
Manchester’s libraries to become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi this winter
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s libraries are set to become ‘warm welcome spaces’ offering free hot drinks and internet access to those in need again this winter.
After millions of local residents visited the ‘stigma-free safe spaces’ to escape and take refuge from the cold each year since they were first introduced in 2022, Manchester City Council has decided to reintroduce its popular ‘Warm Welcome Spaces’ scheme again this year during the chillier months.
All 22 of Manchester‘s public libraries are, once again, taking part in the scheme this time around.
Designed to ‘provide support to people who need it’ over some of the most challenging months of the year when temperatures drop, the Council’s scheme is offering a range of different services – and they’re all for free of charge.
Free hot drinks, WiFi and internet access, data SIM cards, and newspapers are just some of the things people can make the most of inside these ‘warm spaces’, as well as get access to information, advice, and extra signposting to other support services they made need in the city.
Manchester’s libraries will become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi again this winter / Credit: Haydon Waldeck | koolshooters (Pexels)
There will be age-friendly spaces to connect with others, story times once a week at 11am for children under five, and even weekly digital drop-ins too.
Manchester Central Library, Miles Platting Community Library, Hulme High Street Library, Beswick Library, Longsight Library, and Abraham Moss Library are just some of the libraries taking part this winter.
All 22 libraries will be free to enter, and the Council says people can stay in them ‘for as long as you like’.
“For many years, the Council has been a proud supporter of the Warm Welcome Spaces initiative,” explained Councillor Thomas Robinson, who is the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care at Manchester City Council.
“In Manchester we have been all too aware of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the hardships people have suffered as a result.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this work has the potential to be lifesaving. The simple act of offering a person a safe place where they can interact with other Mancunians, to not feel alone or get the help they need, can have a lasting and meaningful impact.”
Find your local free ‘Warm Welcome Space’ in Manchester here.
Featured Image – RawPixel
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University fees set to increase in line with inflation but Government promises ‘better outcomes’ for students
Emily Sergeant
University tuition fees are set to increase in line with forecasted inflation for the next two academic years, the Government has announced.
Last year was the first year, since 2017, that tuition fees were increased in line with inflation, and now that the Office for Students is forecasting that 43% of institutions will be in deficit without further action to ‘shore up’ their finances, the Government has announced in its ‘landmark’ Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper – published this week – that fees will need to rise again.
To support universities in continuing to deliver world-class teaching and research, tuition fees will rise in line with forecast inflation for the next two academic years.
According to the Department for Education, legislation will then be brought forward, when parliamentary time allows, to enable automatic increases to fee caps in future years in line with inflation – but this will only be institutions that meet tough new quality thresholds set by the Office for Students.
Where standards are deemed to ‘fall short’, the Office for Students will then act quickly to stop the expansion of low-quality courses and will aim to hold providers to account.
University fees are set to increase in line with inflation for the next two years / Credit: PickPik
Universities that underperform could face financial and regulatory consequences, the Government has confirmed, as a way of ensuring public money is spent only on courses that deliver for students and the economy overall.
“Young people from all backgrounds feel they have been let down by a system that talks about opportunity but too often fails to deliver it,” commented Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, as the White Paper was published this week.
“Universities charge significant fees for their courses, but if they are going to charge the maximum, it is right that they deliver the world-class education students expect.
“These reforms will ensure value for money, higher standards across our universities and colleges and a renewed focus on the skills our economy needs.”
The Government has also said it will also work with universities and local authorities to ensure they offer ‘adequate accommodation’ for their students.
It will also support efforts to drive down the cost of living going forward.
Georgina Pellant -
29th October 2021 
