British smokers urged to start vaping by health officials

E-cigarettes should be available on the NHS, public health officials have said despite conflicting evidence over their safety.

Britain’s eight million smokers have been urged to start ‘vaping’ after a government-backed report found that the electronic devices are 20 times less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

So far no electronic cigarette has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

But a new report launched today by Public Health England, Kings College London and Queen Mary London, found e-cigarettes carry just five per cent of the risk of tobacco and should be widely adopted by smokers.

If every smoker in Britain switched to vaping, around 75,000 lives a year could be saved, they estimate. The experts called for e-cigarettes to be prescribed on the NHS once regulated.

Nagy Memes Szabolcz and Georgia Samuels at Vapefest, Shrewsbury
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