If a vaping device gets authorized by approving authorities, doctors in England will then be able to decide if a prescription would be beneficial for patients.
If this materializes, a Daily Express report said, England doctors would be the first to adopt medically licensed vaping devices in the world, in order to save lives.
According to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, legalizing the use of vaping devices for medical purposes has the potential to tackle the stark differences in rates of smoking across the nation.
Guidance setting out procedures that need to be followed by manufacturers when submitting products for authorization of use are published in The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
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A smoker is engulfed by vapors as he smokes an electronic vaping machine during lunch time in central London.
Licensed E-Cigarettes
A similar Health World News report said smoking has remained the leading avoidable cause of premature death, with nearly 64,000 individuals dying in England in 2019 due to smoking? While rates are at a record low in the United Kingdom, there remain 6.1 million smokers in England.
There are stark variations across the nation, with smoking rates of Blackpool at 23.4 percent and Kingston upon Hull poles at 22.2 percent aside from the richer places like Richmond upon Thames at eight percent.
According to Secretary Javid, this country has remained a global leader in terms of healthcare, whether it's COVID-19 vaccine rollout or its groundbreaking public health measures that reduce the risk of people to severe illness.
The health official added, opening the door to a licensed e-cigarette proscribed on the National Health Service has the potential to address the stark differences in smoking rates across the nation, helping individuals to stop smoking wherever they reside and whatever background they have.
Helping People Hooked on Nicotine
Some of the highest success rates of people attempting to quit smoking are those using an e-cigarette together with the local "Stop Smoking" services, with up to 68 percent quitting successfully from 2020 to 2021, the official data specified.
In 2020, e-cigarettes were the most famous aid used by smokers attempting to quit in England, with more than 27 percent of smokers using them, than with over 18 percent using nicotine replacement products like gum and patches.
Essentially, e-cigarettes are allowing the user to inhale nicotine in a vapor instead of smoke. The NHS recommends that even though not risk-free, vaping is much less hazardous as it does not burn tobacco, neither does it produce toxins like carbon monoxide or tar.
Research materials have shown vaping can help people hooked on nicotine handle or control their cravings, as well as a transition away from smoking.
MHRA Approval
Approximations from Action on Smoking and Health or ASH put the number of vaping adults in Great Britain at 3.6 million, which includes 2.4 million people formerly smoking.
Manufacturers were able to apply in the past for e-cigarettes to get a medical license. Nonetheless, only one company got approval from the MHRA, and its production was canceled later on by the maker. This new guidance has set out more detail on the process of obtaining a license.
According to MHRA chief executive Dr. June Raine, the guidance the regulator published recently is a strong initial step towards safe and effective licensed e-cigarette products' availability.
Meanwhile, according to ASH chief executive Deborah Arnott, just as the MHRA led the world in vaccine licensure for COVID-19, today, it is leading the world by supporting the e-cigarettes' medicinal licensing.
Premature Deaths from Smoking and COVID-19 Compared
Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, said this is totally justified, adding that smoking is possible to have caused more premature deaths in 2020 in the UK compared to the COVID-19 pandemic.
E-cigarette use has been controversial because of a lack of evidence on its long-term impacts. However, experts have increasingly agreed that vaping is safer compared to smoking.
Nevertheless, it is not recommended for children and non-smokers. More so, it is illegal to sell vaping products to individuals below 18 years of age .
Related information about the safety of e-cigarettes is shown on CBS Mornings' YouTube video below:
RELATED ARTICLE: Possibility of Link Between Vaping and COVID-19? Doctors Discuss It
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