A MOVE to allow e-cigarettes to be prescribed on the NHS to help people quit smoking may reduce costs on the health service long-term but it is vital to remember "addiction is more prevalent in areas of deprivation", an Oldham GP has warned.

E-cigarettes are a step closer to being prescribed on the NHS for the first time after the UK’s medicines regulator updated its guidance for people who want to quit smoking.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said e-cigarette manufacturers can now submit their products to go through the same regulatory approvals process as other medicines available via the health service.

This could lead to England becoming the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes licensed as a medical product, as long as they are approved for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

National health equalities campaigner Dr Zahid Chauhan OBE, who is also Oldham Council's health and social care cabinet member, says the NHS may save costs in paying for emergency treatment long term.

He said: “I still think we are some way off seeing e-cigarettes distributed free on the NHS but any tangible initiative to help wean people off cigarettes has got to be positive.

"There would be a cost implication and I hope decision makers see that spending on smoking cessation in the long-term beats paying for the emergency treatment required to help treat patients with problems such as lung cancer, COPD and emphysema.

"E-cigarettes or indeed nicotine replacement products will not prevent smoking alone, either."

The Labour councillor added that he believes "spending on the mental health care that could address habitual behaviour is nowhere near the required level at present".

He added: "We should also remember that addiction is more prevalent in areas of deprivation and that lifting people out of an anxious and sometimes chaotic lives would definitely help reduce all addictions.”