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<p>The potential financial impacts of e-cigarettes on the public purse are not yet
fully understood. The evidence base is still evolving on these products, largely because
vaping is still relatively new and the health effects may be very long term. Significant
savings to the public purse are likely to arise only if smokers switch completely
from smoked tobacco. The Government’s Tobacco Control Plan, published in July 2017,
estimates that the National Health Service currently spends £2.5 billion on treating
smoking-related diseases and Public Health England assess e-cigarettes to be at least
95% less harmful than smoked tobacco. Reduced harm may not translate exactly into
proportional costs savings, but superficially this implies that vaping, as an alternative
to smoking, may contribute to significant savings.</p>
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