The vaping industry is gearing up to run its first vaping awareness month in April across the UK.
Organized by the vape industry association, VApril hopes to encourage smokers to give up e-cigarettes for a month and demonstrate to them that they are a safer option.
Following in the footsteps of Stoptober, the NHS’s quit smoking challenge six months ago, the campaign will reach out to people, governments and public health organisations across the country to spread the message that vaping is much safer than smoking.
Dr. Christian Jessen, famous for his “Embarrassing Bodies” program, represents the campaign, VApril aims to bring a variety of vape products to smokers and guide them to use them properly and civilly.
They will also have the opportunity to take part in a vape challenge, trying vaping products instead of smoking throughout the month of April, and have their health status tracked during the campaign.
VApril is backed by PHE, with the hope of helping the 40% of smokers who have never used a vape to switch easily.
Dr Christian said: “I am delighted to be working with the UK Vaping Alliance to launch VApril, the UK’s first vaping education and awareness campaign . I personally believe that vaping has great potential to help people quit smoking. This is important because it is the single most important step a person can take to improve their health. Vaping is supported by PHE, with research showing that vaping is 95% safer than smoking.”
“It's simple: You don't smoke for a month, join the VApril challenge and give yourself a chance to quit smoking for good.”
According to PHE research, e-cigarettes contribute to 20,000 successful quittings each year, and industry experts estimate that figure is even higher. Around 1.5 million Britons have already quit smoking and are now using only vapes.
Now VApril wants to reach the remaining 7 million smokers in the UK with a three-step vape challenge.
Participants will be encouraged to sign up to a UK-wide open vaping course, where they will be given a vape kit and introduced to the different types of devices and e-liquids available on the market.
A six-page guide will give smokers tips and tricks on how to switch from cigarettes to vaping, including how to choose the right nicotine strength for them. The third step is to connect with new vapers and post your progress on the VApril homepage.
John Dunne, director of UKVIA, added: “This will be the biggest campaign the vaping industry has ever seen and looks back at how far we have come in recent years.”
“The challenge for industry, government and public health is to spread the message that vaping is less harmful than smoking and there are nearly 3 million smokers currently vaping, with a large number having switched to vaping. VApril hopes to be the first step for smokers to quit the habit.”
Source: Ali Anderson - Vaping.com
Translated by: The Vape Club
