Electronic devices containing nicotine are the most efficient tool for quitting smoking in England, according to the latest report of Public Health England.
Data shows that the use of these devices as part of a therapy for quitting smoking had one of the highest success rates in the last two years, ranging between 59.7% in 2019 and up to 74% last year. It is estimated that up to 27.2% of respondents opted for electronic nicotine products, the so-called vaping, while quitting smoking.
‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) is likely to have had an impact on smoking behaviours, but it is still too early to assess the full effect of the pandemic,’ as stated in this independent report, produced by King’s College in London.
The researchers are also concerned with ‘incorrect perceptions of relative risks of vaping compared to smoking tobacco-burning cigarettes’. These results indicate that users’ perception differs from reports of experts from the UK and the USA, who conclude that ‘the use of regulated products is far less harmful than smoking’.
‘Research so far shows that vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco and, as this report emphasises, can help people to stop smoking. The long-term effects of e-cigarettes are unknown but the long-term harms of tobacco are indisputable’ – said Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive.
‘The best choice every smoker can make is to fully quit tobacco and nicotine. Those who do not want to do that have a third option – to get informed about less harmful alternatives,’ said Aleksandra Ješić, a general medical practitioner, for the Beta News Agency.
She noted that there are numerous studies confirming that tobacco products that do not burn tobacco are significantly less harmful than cigarettes and tobacco smoke, which, in addition to carbon monoxide and tar, also contains about 100 known cancerous substances.
‘Bearing in mind that one in ten smokers manages to quit smoking, it is easy to see a progress in public health in this area. However, it is necessary for those devices to be regulated before reaching the market,’ said Ješić.
Ješić adds that there is only one device available in Serbia which the US Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) categorised as a modified-risk product and confirmed that exposure to harmful and potentially harmful substances when using it is significantly reduced compared to cigarettes.