12-week challenge opens applications to smokers looking for less harmful alternatives

South Africa is home to 11 million tobacco smokers, with 41% attempting to quit in the past 12 months.
Based on past research, South Africa’s quitting success rate is only 14%, with top reasons for relapse being difficulty quitting (57%), smoking enjoyment (34%), and the low confidence smokers’ have in their own ability to quit (14%).
Vaping, however, is increasingly recognised as a significant harm reduction tool that can be helpful to smokers looking to quit traditional tobacco.
In fact, recent research has shown that vaping is eight times more likely to help smokers quit than those who do not vape.
It’s for this reason that consumer advocacy group Vaping Saved My Life (VSML) is giving 40 of Mzansi’s smokers the chance to take part in a nationwide 12-Week Challenge in which they will be mentored, supported and guided through their quitting journey. Vaping will also be introduced to reduce their harm exposure.
SA should consider successes from abroad
“Doctors overseas recommend vaping as a means of cutting down or quitting smoking, as it is twice as effective as other nicotine replacement products like patches and gum,” says VSML founder, Kurt Yeo.
“Vaping is also being encouraged by health departments around the world as part of programmes to reduce tobacco use in their countries to 5% or less of the population.”
He points out that results have shown that as vaping in these countries increases, the rate of smoking goes down. “In the UK for instance, more than 50,000 smokers, who would otherwise have carried on smoking, managed to stop with the aid of a vaping product during 2017 alone.”
“In South Africa, however, vaping is being lumped in the same category as tobacco products, despite being 95% less harmful and given its smoking cessation success rate,” notes Yeo.
“This not only creates a negative perception among the public but could also be a prohibiting factor for smokers wanting to quit from making the switch.”
“The purpose of this experiment is to meaningfully help people who wish to quit smoking in a sustainable way and find a less harmful alternative. Oftentimes, smokers are given the advice to ‘just quit’ – but I’m not sure that people understand that it’s not that simple. Giving up what is sometimes a life-long habit is a complex process,” he explains.
Helping South Africans break away from the pack
Participants selected to take part in the 12-Week Challenge will be equipped with access to vaping products and a mentor to guide and advise them throughout their journey.
Over the Challenge period, they will be asked to track their progress through bi-weekly surveys containing questions like ‘how strong is your desire to smoke’ and others related to whether they have experienced any perceived health benefits. Plus, they will document their experiences via video diaries.
Yeo shares that VSML undertook a similar smaller-scale social experiment last year that saw 71% of entrants ‘staying stopped’.
“By opening this year’s iteration to a wider pool of participants, we not only hope to help them give up smoking and reduce the harm that they are exposed to, but also remind regulators and the general public that smokers are human at the end of the day, and that society should do what it can to support anyone wanting to quit.”
The 12-Week Challenge will commence on 13 March and end on 31 May 2023, coinciding with World No-Tobacco Day.
Click here to apply to join the programme
*Entries are not open to anyone under the age of 25, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, current participants of quit programmes (e.g., Smokenders, Discovery’s GoSmokeFree, CANSA’s eKick Butt programme etc.) as well as users of nicotine replacement therapies (e.g., Nicorette).