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<p>The best thing a smoker can do to improve their health is to quit smoking for good.</p><p>The
Department recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) can help smokers quit
and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than
cigarettes.</p><p>This Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control
plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. The development of this
plan is underway and will be published later this year. The new strategy will consider
the role of e-cigarettes in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England.
To help inform this element of the strategy the Department has been engaging with
e-cigarette experts to ensure that local authorities and Stop Smoking Services are
provided with up to date, evidenced based advice on e-cigarettes.</p><p>Whilst the
Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who
have resumed smoking, the evidence suggests that in the short-term, relapse rates
are lower in those using e-cigarettes to quit.</p><p>The Department has not made an
assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who have purchased vaping supplies from
black market sources.</p>
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