- ‘You’ve got what it takes’ – Stoptober marks its 11th year with a campaign focused on smokers quitting
- UKVIA argues that Government campaigns must continue to recognise the importance of vaping, and other less harmful alternatives, in a smoker’s quitting journey throughout the calendar year.
- Stoptober campaign’s assets, provided to stakeholders from the Government’s overarching Better Health campaign, can be accessed here.
The beginning of October marks the start of the Government’s month-long campaign to encourage smokers to quit. Stoptober, now in its 11th year, has helped over 2.5 million people make a quit attempt.
The campaign that falls under the Department of Health and Social Care’s umbrella brand of Better Health, consists of a two-phased approach including rally and support and action stages. The rally phase seeks to target smokers across all age groups, particularly those aged 25-50, through advertising and social media. The support and action phase will provide information, support, and inspiration to help sustain the quitting journey.
As is often the case, quitting smoking isn’t easy. It’s important, therefore, that all stakeholders supporting the Government’s Smokefree 2030 target, work to acknowledge the varied methods to quitting, including transitioning to less harmful alternatives, which, for many, will be a critical step in giving up combustible tobacco products.
The UKVIA has long called for Government to lead more ambitious communications campaigns explaining the harm reduction of switching from smoking to vaping. Such campaigns will help to challenge misinformation that deters many smokers from attempting to use these products in their journey to quit smoking.
Earlier this year, an independent review, commissioned by the Department for Health and led by Javed Khan OBE, named vaping as one of the four “critical” policy pillars to ensure England achieves its set targets.
When promoting the review, Khan stated that: “The Government must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people quit smoking tobacco. We know that vaping is an extremely effective quit tool. We need to do more to promote its use in quitting, while also doing more to protect children and young people from starting to vape.”
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA, said: ” During this year’s campaign – and future Stoptober campaigns – adult smokers should be reminded that vaping poses a fraction of the risk. Consistently, new evidence is showing that e-cigarettes are an effective and successful alternative.
“Vaping is a game changer for many who have time and time again tried to quit but without success.
“Promoting vaping through such a well-known campaign should be nuanced and targeted, ensuring that they are focused on adult smokers whilst deterring non-smokers and young people from starting.”
Dunne continues: “I encourage e-cigarette companies to utilise the experiences of their customers through personal testimonies to inspire others to give up smoking.”