One issue has raced up the agenda more than most in recent months; youth vaping.
With two (almost) teenage children of my own I share concerns about their use, their dangers – to health and education – plus their environmental impact.
As Public Health Minister, I wrote the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan with the ambition England will be ‘smokefree’ by 2030 because smoking remains the biggest preventable killer in our country today.
Smoking cessation services, patches, gum and other support are important but we have to accept vaping has a place. It plays an important role in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes and the figures bear that out.
No-one is saying the habit has no health impact but there is widespread, not universal, agreement it’s better than smoking. The evidence on whether vaping acts as a gateway to tobacco smoking however, is unclear and contested.
Of course, the purchase of vapes by under-18s is illegal but, as with cigarettes when I was young, they find their way into the hands of children.
Last month the Health Select Committee, which I chair, held one of our special topical sessions on youth vaping. We are concerned by increasing reports of children taking up the habit.
We heard from representatives in the health policy, medical and education sectors about the impact of the rising trend in child vaping, and from representatives of the industry about their views on eliminating vaping amongst children.
Constituents can access full details of the session on our website. There’s also the summary we sent to the Secretary of State in the hope it will feed into a current ongoing consultation and help inform wider, future control strategies for tobacco and related products.
What is clear is that there is a rising trend in the number of children vaping and existing measures to prevent under 18s from accessing vapes are not working effectively.
Witnesses raised concerns about the health and behavioural effects of nicotine consumption and addiction - in itself - on children: for example, its impact on children’s ability to concentrate in school.
We also heard about potential long-term health risks of vaping, which may not yet be clear. We were told about several cases of children obtaining illegal vapes that contained harmful or banned products including hydraulic oil and antifreeze.
Decisive action is needed from both Government and industry to protect children from the harmful effects of vaping. This will include much stronger action to prevent children from obtaining and using them which takes us to the vexed issue of ‘disposable’ vapes.
My instinct says we should just ban them but, of course, it’s not that simple and we cannot ignore evidence about the role of vapes in smoking cessation among adults and the possibility of feeding the illicit market.
So we turn to action on flavours, packaging and advertising and, given the industry has not gone far enough in ensuring that its products do not appeal to a younger demographic, Government must learn lessons from decades of public health work on reducing smoking rates.
That includes action on price because disposable vapes at five pound a pop are just way too accessible.
The environmental impact of disposable vapes in particular is a coming issue and I am working with the industry to get much better recycling points in place for pubs and clubs as an example. And, yes, they can be recycled with the support of this multi-million-pound industry if the will is there.
You can contact me with your experiences of this issue and, through your current MP, help shape an important area of national policy.
