Recently, the latest survey report released by the UK’s authoritative public health agency Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) pointed out that e-cigarettes can help smokers effectively quit cigarettes, but 40% of British smokers still have misunderstandings about e-cigarettes. Many public health experts called on the government to disseminate correct e-cigarette information to save more smokers’ lives in a timely manner.
The report is published on the ASH official website
ASH is an independent public health organization established by the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom in 1971. Since 2010, it has released annual research reports on “E-cigarette Use in the United Kingdom” for 13 consecutive years. The project was funded by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, and the report data has been cited by Public Health England many times.
The report points out that e-cigarettes are a very effective tool to assist in smoking cessation. The success rate of smokers using e-cigarettes to quit smoking is twice that of using nicotine replacement therapy. The official website of the World Health Organization describes smoking cessation as “Quitting tobacco”, which means quitting tobacco, because burning tobacco produces more than 4,000 chemical substances, which are the real dangers of cigarettes. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco combustion and can reduce 95% of the harm of cigarettes. However, many smokers are afraid to try e-cigarettes due to the misconception that e-cigarettes are as harmful as cigarettes or even more harmful.
“There are reports that the risks of e-cigarettes are unknown, which is wrong. On the contrary, a large number of studies have shown that the levels of carcinogens released by e-cigarettes are much lower than those of cigarettes.” Ann McNeill, a professor at King’s College London, believes that the evidence confirming the harm reduction of e-cigarettes has been very It is clear that the public is more concerned about young people and is afraid that e-cigarettes are less harmful and may induce young people to use them.
However, survey results show that most teenagers are not aware of the dangers of e-cigarettes, and they choose e-cigarettes just out of curiosity. “Our top priority is to prevent teenagers from buying, not to alarmist. Exaggerating the harm of e-cigarettes will only push teenagers to more harmful cigarettes.” said Hazel Cheeseman, deputy CEO of ASH.
Smokers also need to be concerned about as much as teenagers. Multiple research evidence shows that after smokers completely switch to e-cigarettes, their cardiovascular, lung, and oral health conditions are effectively improved. According to the “Report on Characteristics and Public Health Impacts of Chinese E-Cigarette Users (2023)” released by the research team of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Public Health in September 2023, nearly 70% of smokers reported that their overall health has improved after switching to e-cigarettes. improve.
However, the report also mentioned that domestic e-cigarette users do not have a high level of knowledge about e-cigarettes and do not know enough about regulatory policies. For example, the awareness rate of “prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors” is only 40%. Many experts emphasized in the report that users’ awareness of e-cigarettes and related health literacy should be improved, and at the same time, smokers’ demands for harm reduction should be viewed positively, and the possible application of harm reduction strategies should be explored.
After the release of the ASH report, many public health experts emphasized the urgency of eliminating misunderstandings about e-cigarettes: If a person cannot distinguish between e-cigarettes and cigarettes, which is more harmful, he or she already has a health risk. Only by giving the public a comprehensive and objective understanding of the scientific knowledge on e-cigarettes can we help them make the right choice.
“The emergence of e-cigarettes is a major breakthrough in the field of public health. In the UK, millions of smokers are successfully quitting smoking and reducing harm with the help of e-cigarettes. If the media stops throwing dirt on e-cigarettes, we can save the lives of smokers The process will be faster,” said Peter Hajek, professor of clinical psychology at Queen Mary University of London.
Post time: Oct-13-2023
