The Kirklees Council and the charity Yorkshire Cancer Research, have teamed up for the initiative, while the devices are being offered as part of the Kirklees Wellness Service. Councillor Musarrat Khan, Cabinet member for health and social care, said he is delighted with the launching of the scheme.
“As a council we are committed to tackling health inequalities and the vaping device offer from Yorkshire Cancer Research will help those residents who want to stop smoking live healthier lives and have a positive impact on their family and friends.”
While Dr Stuart Griffiths, director of research, services and policy at Yorkshire Cancer Research, reiterated the benefit of the devices as smoking cessation tools. “Yorkshire has the highest smoking rate in England, and this causes thousands of smoking-related cancers and needless deaths in our region each year. When it comes to helping people quit for good, being able to offer vaping products is essential. They are an incredibly effective aid in helping people give up cigarettes.”
“We are delighted to be working with Kirklees Council to help bring this important option to people who are desperate to quit but need access to the best possible support. It’s vital that stop smoking services across Yorkshire seek to provide their clients with this valuable aid,” added Griffiths.
Easing the financial burden of purchasing cigarettes
Similarly earlier this year, another study looked into the feasibility of distributing e-cigarettes to smokers attending homeless centres in Britain, with the aim of improving their health and ease the financial burden of purchasing cigarettes.
As part of this earlier trial, four homeless centres in Great Britain were allocated to either a Usual Care (UC) or E-Cigarette (EC) group. The 32 participants in the UC group, received smoking cessation advice and were offered support by a local Stop Smoking Service. The 48 EC group participants were given a vape starter kit with a 4-week e-liquid supply.
The compiled results had indicated that in both groups, depression and anxiety scores declined over the course of the study. However, the group who received vape starter kits indicated more smoking cessation success. “The EC intervention was well received with minimal negative effects and very few unintended consequences (e.g. lost, theft, adding illicit substances),” reported the researchers.
