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Vaping, which offers a critical lifeline for smokers as a powerful and evidence-backed quitting tool, has been instrumental in bringing the UK’s smoking prevalence down to record low levels and has an undeniable role to play in helping achieve smokefree ambitions. It also has the potential to reduce cost burdens to our struggling NHS.

Sadly, misperceptions about vaping are at an all-time high, with 50% of smokers wrongly believing it to be as or more harmful than smoking – which claims almost 78,000 lives every year in England alone.

Healthcare professionals have a key role to play in communicating the reduced risk and stop smoking potential and this Healthcare Hub was created to provide information, resources and guidance on quitting smoking through vaping for NHS staff and patients.

Download your free copy here

Vaping versus Smoking

A guide to quitting smoking through vaping for healthcare professionals

Whether you’re a clinical lead for cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, a frontline healthcare practitioner caring for patients or are responsible for delivering learning and development programmes in your hospital, please download our complete guide on vaping to support successful quits amongst patients who smoke. 

By providing answers to common questions from smokers about vaping, it is designed to help healthcare professionals talk knowledgeably and give best advice and information to those looking to break away from smoking by making the switch.  

Vaping to Quit Smoking

A five-step guide on making the switch  

This guide is designed to supports smokers kick the habit for good with the help of vaping, as the most effective quitting tool available.  

It covers five key steps to a smoke-free life including: 

  1. Understanding your smoking habits to enable the best course of action when it comes to vaping 

  2. Identifying the types of vape devices that are best for you based on factors such as lifestyle and smoking frequency 

  3. Knowing the nicotine levels that are right for you in a vape device based on previous tobacco consumption 

  4. Finding the best flavours to help you stick with vaping and stay off cigarettes

  5. What to do if you aren’t progressing on your quitting journey as quickly as you’d hoped  

The guide also covers a range of common questions asked by smokers about vaping and provides evidence-backed facts to help address key myths and concerns.  

Download your free copy here
Download your free poster guide

‘Start Vaping, Stop Smoking’ Poster Series

Our special series of ‘Start Vaping, Stop Smoking’ posters highlight key information and facts to help dispel myths that may be preventing smokers from making the switch and encourage patients with smoking related conditions to consider vaping as a tool to help them quit for good. Ideal for notice boards and reception areas around hospitals.  

Download your free hospital posters here

What experts say:

“E-cigarettes are not risk free and shouldn’t be used by people who don’t smoke or aren’t at risk of smoking. However, evidence shows that nicotine e-cigarettes carry only a small fraction of the risk involved in smoking. In our review, we did not find evidence of substantial harms caused by nicotine containing electronic cigarettes when used to quit smoking.”
Dr Nicola Lindson, University Research LecturerUniversity of Oxford and Managing Editor of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group
“Helping smokers to quit is one of the best things we can do for their health. Using vapes (e-cigarettes) is a quitting tool many addicted smokers find effective and, given the multiple and immense health risks of smoking, it is much safer to vape than to smoke. Swapping from smoking to vaping is therefore a positive health move.”
Sir Chris WhittyChief Medical Officer for England
“Smoking kills approximately 8 million people worldwide every year and even some of the often most effective treatments have little effect on reducing the number of smokers…the simplicity of tailored support through [vape] flavour advice and supportive messages could have a huge impact in helping people lead smokefree lives.”
Lynne DawkinsProfessor of nicotine and tobacco studies at London Southbank University (LSBU)
“The biggest danger of the youth vaping panic is that it drives counterproductive policies and discourages adults who smoke from switching to a far safer alternative. These adults are dying prematurely at a rate of over 8 million a year…for many, vaping nicotine is the only way to save their lives.”
Dr Colin MendelsohnFounding Chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association and retired GP of nearly 30 years
“Our Nicotine Research Group at King’s [College London] quickly picked up the gauntlet to study vaping products…as well as synthesising the global evidence on their impact on public health. The evidence indicated that, when appropriately regulated and used, e-cigarettes helped smokers to stop and offered a much less harmful means of continuing nicotine use for those that wished to do so.
Ann McNeillProfessor of Tobacco Addiction at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience
“We should ensure that adult smokers get the right support, which includes provision of accurate information about the reduced risk of vaping and how it can help them stop smoking, while also offering educational material to young people who would have never smoked, to discourage them from starting to vape, in addition to better reinforcement of age of sale and advertising restrictions.”

“If this balance can be struck, e-cigarettes can play a powerful role in consigning smoking cigarettes to the history books in the UK.”
Lion ShahabProfessor of health psychology and co-director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, at University College London
“E-cigarettes might carry certain health risks and continued surveillance is necessary, but they are likely to be among our most effective and efficacious tools for smoking cessation and pose considerably lower risks than cigarettes.

“In summary, vaping is not safe, but it is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking.”
Sally Satel, MDSenior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a lecturer at Yale University School of Medicine.
“E-cigarettes are a major breakthrough in public health. They are helping smokers quit on an unprecedented scale and help substantially with eliminating smoking-related cancer, heart disease and lung disease.  “The progress would be faster though if media did not consistently promote misinformed stories that put smokers off moving over to vaping. A correction to this trend is urgently needed.”
Prof Peter HajekProfessor of Clinical Psychology, and Director, Health and Lifestyle Research Unit at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London
“It is particularly important that pregnant women who smoke tobacco are encouraged to stop as soon as possible. Switching to a less harmful way of using nicotine, such as vaping, needs to be encouraged and promoted. It is vital that media reporting does not scare pregnant women about vaping, because the consequences of continued tobacco smoking are so harmful for babies, as well as families.”
Prof Caitlin NotleyProfessor of Addiction Sciences, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia
“The evidence on vaping for smoking cessation is clear and strong, it is far safer to switch to vaping nicotine than it is to continue smoking combustible tobacco. Plus, these products are more effective than other available products in helping people to quit smoking. However, it is the poor reporting of studies, as well as poorly conducted studies, which has led to widespread misperceptions. “Consequently, we are losing out on the net population health win that these products can offer. This trend needs to be stopped and reversed.”
Dr Sharon CoxPrincipal Research Fellow in Behavioural Science and Health, University College London (UCL)
“There is an ongoing disconnect between scientific evidence on the relative harms of vaping compared with smoking and how these risks are communicated to the public. Cigarettes are uniquely lethal, and a large number of studies have established that vaping (although not entirely risk-free) is much less harmful than smoking.”
Dr Sarah Jacksonrincipal Research Fellow, UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University College London (UCL)
“When I see patients who smoke they are already sick with smoking-related disease and have often given up hope of ever stopping. Vaping is a valuable tool in our armoury to tackle smoking, particularly for patients who are heavily addicted.”
Dr Ruth SharrockClinical Lead for Tobacco Dependency, North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board
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What the research shows:

Smoking prevalence in the UK has dropped to a record low 11.9% - vaping has played an instrumental role in this reduction.
Office for National Statistics (ONS)2022
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
“Vaping products remain the most common aid used by people to help them stop smoking.”
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)2022
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
Nicotine e-cigarettes are ‘amongst the most effective stop smoking tools’ available
Cochrane Review2023
Cochrane Review
“In Stop Smoking Services in 2020 and 2021, quit attempts involving a vaping product were associated with the highest quit rates.”
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)2022
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
Flavours have a critical role to play in helping smokers quit. Research commissioned by the UKVIA found 1 in 3 vapers feared a ban on flavours would send them back to smoking. This represents nearly 1.5 million people in the UK.
One Poll survey, commissioned by the UKVIA2023
One Poll survey, commissioned by the UKVIA
There is ‘significantly lower exposure to harmful substances from vaping compared with smoking, as shown by biomarkers associated with the risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions’.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)2022
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
There is ‘no good evidence’ that vaping causes cancer. Nicotine, the addictive chemical found in cigarettes and some vape products, does not cause cancer.
Cancer Research UK2023
Cancer Research UK
Based on reviewed evidence, vaping poses ‘a small fraction’ of the risks of smoking and the ‘95% less harmful’ estimate remains broadly accurate.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)2022
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
Smokers who receive help selecting the flavour of vape they will use, as well as supportive text messages, are much more likely to quit.
London Southbank University (LSBU)2023
London Southbank University (LSBU)
E-cigarettes are as beneficial for the cardiovascular system as conventional nicotine-replacement therapies when stopping smoking.
Sheffield Hallam University, research funded by Heart Research UK2023
Sheffield Hallam University, research funded by Heart Research UK
Half of England’s adult smokers switching to vaping could save the NHS more than half a billion pounds per year.
Research from Brunel University London, with data from NHS Digital, the Office for National Statistics and the Royal College of Physicians
Research from Brunel University London, with data from NHS Digital, the Office for National Statistics and the Royal College of Physicians
Some 5.2 million adults have used vaping to cut down on or stop smoking in Great Britain alone.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
Half of all successful quit attempts over the past five years involved a vape.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
Giving out free e-cigarette starter packs to smokers in hospital emergency departments ‘helps more people quit’.
University of East Anglia2024
University of East Anglia
Almost half of adult vapers in Great Britain prefer fruit flavours – just 16% said they choose for tobacco options.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
Some 5.2 million adults have used vaping to cut down on or stop smoking in Great Britain alone.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
Half of all successful quit attempts over the past five years involved a vape.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
Giving out free e-cigarette starter packs to smokers in hospital emergency departments ‘helps more people quit’.
University of East Anglia2024
University of East Anglia
Almost half of adult vapers in Great Britain prefer fruit flavours – just 16% said they choose for tobacco options.
Action on Smoking and Health UK2024
Action on Smoking and Health UK
More than 95% of surveyed stop smoking services offer vapes to smokers looking to quit and 70% of these say fruit options are, or are amongst, the most popular options for adults.
UKVIA (FOI data from stop smoking services across the country)2024
UKVIA (FOI data from stop smoking services across the country)
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Visit our dedicated page for smokers where you can find more evidenced based facts on vaping, a number
of FAQs, a guide to how vape devices work and an interactive map of specialist vape retail outlets across the country who can provide smokers with lots of high level advice on how to quit smoking using vaping.

Visit The Consumer Zone

Your vaping questions answered:

Vaping is much less harmful than smoking – which is a leading cause of death and disease, leading to eight million deaths around the world every year and causing 7 in 10 lung cancer cases in the UK. 

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities – formerly Public Health England – maintains that vaping poses a ‘small fraction of the risks of smoking’. 

The latest data from Action on Smoking and Health UK reveals half of all smokers in Great Britain wrongly believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking – the highest proportion on record. This mistrust in vaping is often associated with inaccurate or ‘alarmist’ media stories.  

Sources: University College London | Cancer Research UK | OHID

Vaping has played an instrumental role in bringing the UK’s smoking rates down to a record low level, helping some 5.2 million adults cut down on or move away from smoking in Great Britain alone.

Leading public health charity Action on Smoking and Health UK reports half of all successful quit attempts over the past five years have involved a vape.

A comprehensive analysis of data from over 300 clinical studies involving more than 150,000 people found nicotine e-cigarettes are amongst the most effective stop smoking tools available. It found using vapes to quit is more effective than using one or two Nicotine Replacement Therapies (such as gums or patches).

ASH UK I Cochrane

Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest independent funder of cancer research, maintains there is ‘no good evidence that vaping causes cancer’.

It also says nicotine –  the addictive chemical found in cigarettes, and some vape products – does not cause cancer and that ‘people have safely used nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to stop smoking for many years’.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities says vaping poses a ‘small fraction of the risks of smoking’. It also says there is ‘significantly lower exposure to harmful substances from vaping compared with smoking, as shown by biomarkers association with the risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions’.

Source: Cancer Research UK | OHID

In 2019, there were reports that vaping had caused an outbreak of lung illness in the US called E-cigarette or Vaping-use Associated Lung Injury.  

Despite the name, an investigation ultimately found the cases were linked to contaminated illegal products and NOT regular or long-term vaping. However, there are media stories as recently as 2024 that link vaping with EVALI.  

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities said there were ‘lessons to be learnt from the mislabelled US EVALI outbreak’ and stressed communications about the illness should separate vaping illicit substances from nicotine vaping.

Sources: OHID

Popcorn lung (bronchiolitis obliterans) is a serious, but uncommon, lung disease caused by a build-up of scar tissue in the lungs which hinders the flow of air.

It got its name when workers in a popcorn factory developed the condition after breathing in the chemical diacetyl, which was used to give popcorn a buttery flavour.

According to Cancer Research UK:

  • E-cigarettes don’t cause the condition known as popcorn lung
  • There have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung reported in people who use e-cigarettes

Diacetyl is banned as a vape flavouring in the UK but it is one of the thousands of chemicals found in cigarette smoke.

Source: Cancer Research UK

Yes, there are other quit methods such as gums and patches that people use alongside vaping successfully. It is also important to consider the role of behavioural support.

Individuals will need to determine what’s the best combination for them. However, vaping is now widely recognised as the most successful tool to quit smoking and consistently studies show it to be much more effective than NRTs.

In 2019, there were reports that vaping had caused an outbreak of lung illness in the US called E-cigarette or Vaping-use Associated Lung Injury.  

Despite the name, an investigation ultimately found the cases were linked to contaminated illegal products and NOT regular or long-term vaping. However, there are media stories as recently as 2024 that link vaping with EVALI.  

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities said there were ‘lessons to be learnt from the mislabelled US EVALI outbreak’ and stressed communications about the illness should separate vaping illicit substances from nicotine vaping.

Sources: OHID

The Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group warns that smoke exposure in pregnancy is responsible for increased rates of still birth, miscarriage and birth defects.  

The NHS says protecting your baby from tobacco smoke is ‘one of the best things you can do to give your child a healthy start in life’, saying it can be ‘difficult to stop smoking’ but it’s ‘never too late to quit’.  

It also highlights that using e-cigarettes is ‘much safer for you and your baby’ if they help you stop smoking.  

A recent study from Queen Mary University found that e-cigarettes helped pregnant smokers quit ‘without posing any detectable risks to pregnancy compared with stopping smoking without further nicotine use’.

Sources: Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group | NHS | Queen Mary University of London

Vaping is much less harmful than smoking – which is a leading cause of death and disease, leading to eight million deaths around the world every year and causing 7 in 10 lung cancer cases in the UK. 

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities – formerly Public Health England – maintains that vaping poses a ‘small fraction of the risks of smoking’. 

The latest data from Action on Smoking and Health UK reveals half of all smokers in Great Britain wrongly believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking – the highest proportion on record. This mistrust in vaping is often associated with inaccurate or ‘alarmist’ media stories.  

Sources: University College London | Cancer Research UK | OHID

The NHS says that ‘stopping smoking is one of the best things you will ever do for your health’ with almost immediate health improvements upon quitting for good.

It says all carbon monoxide is removed from your body after 48 hours; breathing becomes easier after 72 hours; blood circulation improves over two to 12 weeks and your risk of a heart attack (compared to that of a smoker) will have halved after a year.

The Office of Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) says there are lower health risks for a number of potentially serious health conditions from vaping than smoking.

It says: “Evidence suggests significantly lower relative exposure from vaping compared to smoking in biomarkers that are associated with the risk of:

  • cancer
  • respiratory conditions
  • cardiovascular conditions and
  • other health conditions”

Sources: NHS | OHID

Vape flavours have a critical role to play in helping adult smokers quit and stay off cigarettes.

The latest data from Action on Smoking and Health UK revealed that almost half of adult vaper in Great Britain prefer fruit flavours, while just 16% opt for tobacco options.

Freedom of Information data, gathered from government and NHS-led stop smoking services reinforced the instrumental role of flavoured vaping products in securing a smokefree future.

It found more than 95% of surveyed stop smoking services offer vapes as a quitting tool for adult smokers and almost 70% of these recorded fruit options as, or amongst, the most popular choice for smokers.

ASH I UKVIA

In 2019, there were reports that vaping had caused an outbreak of lung illness in the US called E-cigarette or Vaping-use Associated Lung Injury.  

Despite the name, an investigation ultimately found the cases were linked to contaminated illegal products and NOT regular or long-term vaping. However, there are media stories as recently as 2024 that link vaping with EVALI.  

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities said there were ‘lessons to be learnt from the mislabelled US EVALI outbreak’ and stressed communications about the illness should separate vaping illicit substances from nicotine vaping.

Sources: OHID