'Smoke-free ambition is stalling': IBVTA responds to UCL study

A new study from researchers at UCL shows that the decline in smoking prevalence in England has slowed significantly since the pandemic. Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson cites as one of the reasons the increasing misperception regarding the risks of vaping compared with smoking.

“This important research from UCL shows that the Government's smoke-free ambition is stalling,” said IBVTA Chair Marcus Saxton. “The authors also rightly point to the media attention on vaping and the subsequent disconnect between the substantially greater risks from smoking. 43 per cent of smokers believe that vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking, an increase of 60 per cent since 2019. These are truly shocking figures, reflecting the never-ending cycle of negative stories on vaping, therefore it is of no surprise that smoking rates remain stubbornly high.

“The focus on vaping, particularly single use products that are important to quit attempts is driving this misperception. We welcome proportionate legislation, but these smoking figures show now is not the time to ban those vaping devices and flavours that are crucial to getting smokers to quit tobacco.

“There are clear challenges for the vaping sector but through a proportionate and evidence-based approach vaping can remain a vital smoking cessation tool and encourage those smokers to make that switch before it is too late.”

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the journal BMC Medicine, looked at survey responses from 101,960 adults between June 2017 and August 2022.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, from June 2017 to February 2020, smoking prevalence fell by 5.2 per cent a year, but this rate of decline slowed to 0.3 per cent during the pandemic (from April 2020 to August 2022), the study found. This stall in the decline of smoking was particularly pronounced among advantaged social groups, - that is, people in households whose highest earners were in professional, managerial or clerical jobs, as opposed to manual jobs.

Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) said: “Smoking prevalence has been falling among adults in England at a steady rate for more than 20 years. Our data show that this decline has stalled, with an increase in quitting potentially having been offset by a rise in people taking up smoking or an increase in late relapse.

“These findings make bold policy action more urgent. The government was already not on track to meet its target for England to be smokefree by 2030. This study shows we are even further off track than we thought.”