WHO Report Confirms Switching from Cigarettes to E-Cigarettes Reduces Harm

Can e-cigarettes help with quitting smoking? Whether smokers switching to e-cigarettes can reduce harm has been a focal point of concern and debate across various sectors of society. The World Health Organization (WHO) provided answers to these controversies in its 2020 report on e-cigarettes: there is solid evidence that switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes can reduce harm.
 
In the report, the WHO cited the assessment of e-cigarettes by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in the United States. The solid evidence includes: "Completely replacing cigarettes with e-cigarettes can reduce users' exposure to various toxic and carcinogenic substances produced by cigarette combustion." There is substantial evidence that "using e-cigarettes leads to nicotine dependence, but the level of dependence is lower than that of cigarettes; long-term exposure to e-cigarette vapor may increase the risk of some diseases, but the risk is lower than that of cigarettes; completely switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes can improve the health of multiple organs in the body."

The WHO specifically pointed out that recent studies show that simultaneous use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes leads to higher levels of oxidative stress and increased risks to cardiovascular and pulmonary health, thus dual use is not recommended.

The report concludes that WHO, NASEM, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have all recognized the potential of e-cigarettes to improve public health. Additionally, the WHO has made several recommendations for countries planning to regulate e-cigarettes, including requiring e-cigarette companies to standardize sales channels (including online sales), strictly enforce laws regarding minimum purchase age, implement standardized regulations to minimize health risks for e-cigarette users, and prohibit the addition of carcinogens, mutagens, and other harmful substances.

Taking the UK as an example, the UK has been pursuing a smoke-free plan: to eliminate combustible cigarettes by 2030, encouraging smokers to quit or switch to lower-risk nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes. Although the smoking rate among the Chinese population is currently declining, it remains at a high level.

Maliang, a researcher at the National Development and Strategic Research Institute of Renmin University of China, has commented that while absolute harmlessness from smoking is the best choice, in the short term, rather than advocating an unrealistic smoke-free ideal that is difficult to achieve, it is more practical to promote harm reduction through smoking cessation and reduction strategies to mitigate the health hazards associated with smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.