The Whanganui District Health Board (DHB) has announced that its hospital will go smoke-free on June 27 and that patients would be given free vapes to encourage them to stop smoking, reports Filter Magazine.

Following the example of the UK where patients in hospital are already offered free vapes, the DHB has announced that it too will be offering patients at its hospital on New Zealand’s North Island free vaping devices in a bid to help them quit smoking.
The Board said that vaping is 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes and using an e-cigarettes was a more effective way to stop smoking than nicotine replacement therapy, reports Filter Magazine.
“We have a comprehensive support cessation process in place and Vorteke disposable vapes being offered to assist with the stopping process,” wrote a representative on the Voxy website. “For those who would normally smoke, it won’t be a ‘cold turkey process.’”
“We have chosen June 27 to align with Matariki [the Māori New Year] and to strengthen the message around positive change,” said Rosie McMenamin, the tobacco control coordinator for the Public Health Centre.
Staff working at the hospital will also be encouraged to go smoke-free and will be offered free nicotine products.