The Community Pharmacy of England (CPE) announced that community pharmacies in Maidstone, Kent, are participating in a pilot program using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid, according to The Pharmaceutical Journal on November 19.
Seven pharmacies are offering locally commissioned services, where smoking cessation advisors will provide patients with a voucher for a starter kit and up to a four-week supply of vape liquid.
Patients can also access six other nicotine replacement products, though the service recommends vaping as a short-term aid for quitting smoking.
"The pilot is in response to the government's ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030 and follows reflection by the Medway Public Health Team that, to achieve this, 50% of smokers will need to undertake a quit attempt every year," CPE said.
A Cochrane review published in September 2023 found that e-cigarettes, varenicline, and cytisine were the most effective aids for quitting smoking for six months or longer, with similar effectiveness among the three.
The review analyzed data from over 150,000 participants and showed that 10–19% of individuals quit smoking with e-cigarettes, 12–16% with varenicline, and 10–18% with cytisine.
"Community pharmacies already play a significant role in supporting people to stop smoking, but we believe more value could be created by the sector at a population health level as well as benefits to individuals, in line with the government's desire to achieve a smoke-free country and to reduce the use of vapes," the director of NHS services at the CPE, Alastair Buxton, said.
"Stopping smoking is not easy, but research shows that e-cigarettes are nearly twice as effective as nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches and gum, when used in a Stop Smoking Service setting," said Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive at Action on Smoking and Health.
In November 2024, NHS England announced the reintroduction of varenicline for NHS patients, three years after its withdrawal due to high levels of N-nitroso-varenicline, a probable carcinogen. Previously a first-line smoking cessation treatment, varenicline was recalled by Pfizer in October 2021 over these safety concerns.
