New research indicates that e-cigarettes may have helped close to 18,000 people in England give up smoking in 2015.
Researchers at the Health Behaviour Research Centre at UCL analysed data from the Smoking Toolkit study — which provides the latest information on smoking and smoking cessation in England — and data on the percentage of the smokers who set a quit date with Stop Smoking Services.
There was no evidence that e-cigarettes prompted more people to try and quit, but over this time period, as more people used e-cigarettes, more people successfully quit smoking.
It’s estimated that 2.8 million people in the UK use e-cigarettes. And they are the most popular smoking cessation aid in the UK.
But the most effective way to quit smoking remains through prescription medication and professional support from free local Stop Smoking Services.
Although fewer people (450,000 a year) take up these services than those who use e-cigarettes, a smoker using a Stop Smoking Service is around three times more likely to quit than going cold turkey on their own.
