“Smoking kills more than half of its long term users, so even seemingly small changes in behaviour can have a large impact at a population level. It’s reassuring to see such a clear population level effect associated with this initiative, showing that well designed schemes can meaningfully shift people towards less harmful alternatives.”
Professor Leonie Brose, Professor of Addictions & Public Health at King’s IoPPN and the study’s senior author
05 March 2026
Government "Swap to stop" scheme sees approximately 125,000 more people using vapes to try and quit smoking cigarettes
New research from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Addictions at King’s College London and University College London has found that the introduction of the Government’s Swap to Stop scheme resulted in a significant increase in the number of people using vapes (also known as e-cigarettes) to help quit cigarette smoking.
The research, published in Addiction, found that approximately 125,000 people in England started using vapes to try and quit smoking in the year following the introduction of the Government backed initiative designed to encourage people to quit smoking by providing free vape starter kits alongside behavioural support.
Researchers in this study used data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, which conducted monthly telephone interviews of adults over 16 to identify the number of people attempting to quit smoking and the approach they used.
An analysis of the data found that, between December 2023 – when Swap to Stop was first introduced - and December 2024, there was a sustained 1.5 percentage point increase in people in England using vapes in attempts to quit smoking in the past year.
Previous studies have shown that those using vapes were significantly more effective than nicotine replacement therapy in people seeking to quit smoking, with one study finding that 1 in 5 participants are able to quit smoking when provided with a combination of free vapes and support.
Dr Vera Buss, Senior Research Fellow in Behavioural Science at University College London and the study’s first author said, “It’s great news that around 125,000 people in England tried to quit smoking using vapes after the swap to stop scheme was introduced. People who use vapes are about 50% more likely to quit smoking successfully than those who use nicotine replacement therapy, and quitting smoking substantially reduces the risk of many serious diseases.”
The researchers suggest that, given the success of the scheme, policymakers in England should consider continued funding for the programme, and other countries could consider the option of similar models if this is possible within their national tobacco control strategies.
This work is funded through the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions. It was also supported by Cancer Research UK and the UK Prevention Research Partnership.
Associations between the national ‘Swap to Stop’ programme offering free vapes for smoking cessation and quit attempts in England: results from a population-based survey (DOI10.1111/add.70332) (Buss, Brose et al) was published in Addiction.
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Professor of Addictions & Public Health
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