Quitting is the best way to improve a smoker's health and quitting in one step offers the best chance of success. However, people who are highly dependent on smoking may not be able to quit in just one step. For these smokers, and those who do not wish to quit abruptly, harm reduction techniques provide an alternative. Harm reduction methods such as 'cutting down to quit' may appeal to those who don't feel able to stop smoking altogether. For some people, taking steps to smoke less can be the start of a gradual change in behaviour that eventually causes them to quit. Harm reduction involves continued use of nicotine, while reducing the harm caused by cigarettes. According to last year's NICE guidance, harm reduction options include:

• Quitting in one step with the help of licensed therapeutic nicotine-containing products (NCPs) and continuing with these products as a substitute for tobacco for as long as is needed to prevent relapse
• Cutting down to quit, with or without the use of licensed NCPs, again for as long as needed
• Smoking reduction, either on its own or with the help of licensed NCPs for as long as required
• Abstaining from smoking temporarily. This may be for a specific occasion, a regular event or because of the need to be somewhere where smoking is prohibited, e.g. during a hospital stay or long-haul flight.

All of the above options can be taken up with or without the help of one or more licensed NCPs. The Government is also committed to various harm reduction measures. These include increasing regulations to restrict where smoking can take place, community-led strategies to emphasise that not smoking is the norm and addressing the price of tobacco so that people quit or reduce the amount they smoke because it's too expensive.