Pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to quit smoking under a new government scheme, which will also offer free vapes to help people shake the habit.
One in five UK smokers will be given a free vape starter kit and behavioural support under the ‘swap to stop’ scheme, while pregnant women will be offered vouchers to quit.
“Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly," health minister Neil O’Brien said.
“We will offer a million smokers new help to quit. We will be funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme – the first of its kind in the world.”
The government is aiming to reduce the number of smokers from 13% to 5% of the population, as it looks to tackle the UK’s highest preventable cause of death and illness.
Vaping, which itself has been slated by health officials, will be used “as a tool for established adult smokers to quit,” the government said.
Around £3mln has also been earmarked to set up an enforcement squad to crackdown on illegal vape sales to children, it added, after 9% of 11 to 15-year-olds in Britain were found by the NHS to have used an e-cigarette in 2021.