Indian Researchers Say Vaping Can Help Smokers Quit

October 4, 2016: E-cigarettes can help people quit smoking by offering them a significantly safer alternative, according to an evidence-based review of published scientific literature conducted by Indian researchers on the subject.

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The paper, titled “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) as an Alternative to Conventional Cigarettes: An Evidence-Based Audit,” was co-authored by Sambuddha Das, Yashmin Choudhury, S. Thangminlal Vaiphei, and R.N. Sharan of the Department of Biochemistry, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around one billion people smoke, leading to approximately six million deaths every year.

More than one million people in India are said to die each year due to smoking, making it the fourth leading cause of death from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.

The authors sought to identify a better and safer form of nicotine delivery to help people quit smoking, especially those who had failed to do so by other means. They found that ENDS — also commonly known as “e-cigarettes” — present minimal health and safety concerns compared with the high risks associated with smoking, and could be key to helping people overcome nicotine addiction.

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“Our systematic meta-analysis of published literature compared the health and safety issues of ENDS vaping with those of smoking conventional cigarettes. We found that, compared with the high risks associated with conventional cigarettes, ENDS have minimal health and safety concerns,” said Sharan, a professor at NEHU.

“While some gaps still remain to be filled by further research, our study conclusively establishes ENDS as a safer alternative for smokers to consume nicotine, which in itself is relatively harmless,” he added.

The paper also indicates that in countries such as the UK, the US, France, and Malaysia, where e-cigarettes are used relatively freely, the number of smokers has declined.

Allowing access to such reduced-harm products in India would likely support public health goals and reduce the burden of smoking-related health problems.

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“Using a multi-criteria risk analysis method with conservative standard weighting, we found that ENDS are an effective alternative for quitting conventional smoking,” Sharan said.

“Regulators and public health agencies should take note of these positive attributes of ENDS and explore policies that would enable access to these products.” (IANS)