In fact, the overall evidence points to e-cigarettes actually helping people to give up smoking tobacco.įree Stop Smoking Services remain the most effective way for people to quit but we recognise the potential benefits for e-cigarettes in helping large numbers of people move away from tobacco.Ĭancer Research UK is funding more research to deal with the unanswered questions around these products including the longer-term impact. Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK’s expert in cancer prevention, said:įears that e-cigarettes have made smoking seem normal again or even led to people taking up tobacco smoking are not so far being realised based on the evidence assessed by this important independent review. It may take some experimentation with different products and e-liquids to find the right one. Smokers differ in their needs and I would advise them not to give up on e-cigarettes if they do not like the first one they try. My reading of the evidence is that smokers who switch to vaping remove almost all the risks smoking poses to their health. Professor Peter Hajek, Queen Mary University London and independent author of the review said: Instead the evidence consistently finds that e-cigarettes are another tool for stopping smoking and in my view smokers should try vaping and vapers should stop smoking entirely.Į-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking. There is no evidence that e-cigarettes are undermining England’s falling smoking rates. Professor Ann McNeill, King’s College London and independent author of the review, said: Local stop smoking services should look to support e-cigarette users in their journey to quitting completely. The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting. Smoking remains England’s number one killer and the best thing a smoker can do is to quit completely, now and forever.Į-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm. Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England said: However, the review raises concerns that increasing numbers of people think e-cigarettes are equally or more harmful than smoking (22.1% in 2015, up from 8.1% in 2013: ASH Smokefree GB survey) or don’t know (22.7% in 2015, ASH Smokefree GB survey).ĭespite this trend all current evidence finds that e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of smoking.Įmerging evidence suggests some of the highest successful quit rates are now seen among smokers who use an e-cigarette and also receive additional support from their local stop smoking services. It also provides reassurance that very few adults and young people who have never smoked are becoming regular e-cigarette users (less than 1% in each group). ![]() The comprehensive review of the evidence finds that almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Great Britain are current or ex-smokers, most of whom are using the devices to help them quit smoking or to prevent them going back to cigarettes. Following the review PHE has published a paper on the implications of the evidence for policy and practice. The review, commissioned by PHE and led by Professor Ann McNeill (King’s College London) and Professor Peter Hajek (Queen Mary University of London), suggests that e-cigarettes may be contributing to falling smoking rates among adults and young people. ![]() ![]()
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