Imperial backs calls for e-cigarettes on prescription

ONE of the world’s biggest tobacco companies has backed calls for e-cigarettes to be made available under NHS prescription to help smokers quit.

The boss of Imperial Brands, the company behind Lambert & Butler and Rizla cigarette papers, insists that the tobacco giant “wants to be part of the solution” to getting millions of Britons to quit smoking.

Stefan Bomhard said that the “basic idea” of offering e-cigarettes under NHS prescription made sense.

However, he added: “We need to work through the mechanics of it.

“We clearly share the Government’s long-term commitment to use vaping to allow smokers to quit.

“We want to be part of the solution. We need to see in what way shape or form we can participate or not. But that will largely be up to the Government.”

The UK has forged ahead of other European countries by supporting the use of e-cigarettes as a way to help people ditch cigarettes.

The Government last month offered pregnant mothers vouchers to spend on vaping or other products to help them quit. This followed an announcement by the then health secretary Sajid Javid in October 2021 that e-cigarettes could be prescribed on the NHS.

Public Health England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) have concluded that vaping – but not heated tobacco – can help people to stop smoking.

Significant concerns remain, however.

Anti-smoking body Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) has estimated that around 44pc of e-cigarette users are still also smoking tobacco.

Meanwhile, critics have warned that the full medical impact of vaping has yet to be realised amid fears of a rapid rise in “popcorn lung” as a result of e-cigarettes.

Mr Bomhard’s remarks came as Imperial Brands announced it had taken market share from its rivals in the all-important US market.

Imperial Brands half-yearly operating profit was £1.7bn on £3.7bn of revenues.

Its results were in line with City expectations and its situation contrasts with London-listed competitor British American Tobacco (BAT), whose chief executive, Jack Bowles, abruptly quit on Monday.