- Page navigation anchor for GPs' need more definitive guidelines on electronic cigarettes for counsellingGPs' need more definitive guidelines on electronic cigarettes for counselling
I refer to the study by Stepney, Aveyard and Begh that highlights their concerns about electronic cigarettes.1 It reveals that most GPs who are expected to address concerns of smokers seeking advice on switching to vaping, feel unequipped to handle this responsibility, often due to lack of knowledge regarding the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes, and some patients were better informed than them. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on vaping acknowledges that although the evidence on long term health impact of e-cigarettes is still developing, GPs are expected to advise patients who smoke e-cigarettes containing nicotine. NICE states that the guidelines recommendations are not mandatory, but it is the GP’s responsibility to provide appropriate counseling based on circumstances of individual patients, in consultation with patient and/or carer.2
The Royal College of Physicians position is vaping is safer than smoking, and urges smokers to switch to electronic cigarettes as they are the best hope in generations for people addicted to tobacco cigarettes to quit. It feels benefits far outweigh the potential harms, and fears that vaping will lead young people to eventually start smoking traditional cigarettes — have not come to pass.3 This stance is sharply at odds with American public health officials who are concerned with eliminating youth electronic cigarette use. A U.S study of those a...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.