SMOKING CESSATION
WITH THE UK E-CIGARETTE MARKET NOW WORTH AN AMAZING £1BN PER ANNUM, SP SPEAKS TO AWARD-WINNING PHARMACIST, MICHAEL WALSH, ABOUT THE THREAT IT POSES TO COMMUNITY PHARMACY’S SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMME AND ASKS HOW PHARMACISTS CAN INCREASE THEIR REVENUE.
HOW TO ‘LIGHT UP’ YOUR SMOKING CESSATION SCHEME
T
here’s no doubt that, despite any misgivings still highlighted by the healthcare profession, the
e-cigarette market continues to grow!
The increase in e-cigarette sales has been incremental each year. In 2012, Action on Smoking and Health’s factsheet shows that there were 70,000 e-cigarette users or ‘vapers’ in the UK. Now, almost 3,000,000 people are turning to the devices as the number one choice for ‘smoking cessation’.
The latest statistics show that the UK e-cigarette market, which was worth £262m in 2013, grew to an eye-watering £1bn in 2016. More worrying for community pharmacy, however, is the fact that NRT sales have dropped by £10m in the same period.
According to ISD Scotland, the 12 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
number of quit attempts in 2015/16 made with the help of NHS smoking cessation services fell for the fourth consecutive year to 64,736; only seven per cent of the estimated 932,000 adult smokers in Scotland. This represents a fi ve per cent year-on-year decrease from 2014/15 compared to a 28 per cent year-on-year fall between 2013/14 and 2014/15.
So, with statistics such as these, how can you, as a community pharmacist, maintain your NRT smoking cessation statistics and meet the challenge posed by e-cigarettes?
‘I believe that the big challenge for us is in attracting into the pharmacy those I call ‘vokers’, ie, those who mix and match smoking and vaping,’ says Michael Walsh. ‘While the statistics clearly demonstrate that there are a vast number of people, who only vape
and a lower number of those who only smoke, our target market is, I believe, those in the middle, who are doing both.
‘In the pharmacy, we are defi nitely seeing an increase in the number of people who vape during the day, but who then smoke in the evening, and you can certainly understand why behaving in this way is attractive to many.
‘For a start, there’s the logistics of smoking. With the 2012 legislation outlawing smoking in buildings, offi ces etc, many people - particularly employees - will now vape at their desk, preferring to remain in the company of their colleagues rather than subject themselves not only to the elements, but also to the social isolation that is associated with standing outside a building to smoke.
‘Then, of course, there’s the matter of cost. A typical smoker in Scotland can spend up to £100 per week, whereas a vaper is faced with a bill more in the region of about £10.
‘But it is the third reason why people become ‘vokers’ which is, I believe, where we can regain lost ground.
‘Many vokers believe that there’s a defi nite health benefi t in reducing the number of cigarettes smoked during the day by only smoking in the evening and, to a certain extent, they are right in their assumptions. In the last six months, for example, two different studies carried out by Cancer Research UK and Public Health England (PHE) clearly showed that there were health benefi ts to be derived from e-cigarettes. The PHE study in fact showed that e-cigarettes were 95 per cent safer than smoking!
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