E-cigarettes are around 95 per cent less harmful than smoking and have the potential to help smokers quit, according to an independent review published by Public Health England.

Despite the mounting evidence, almost half the population don’t realise e-cigarettes are much less harmful than smoking. And there is no evidence that e-cigarettes are acting as a route into smoking for children or non-smokers, said the review.

PHE has published a paper on the implications of the latest evidence for policy and practice. The review suggests that e-cigarettes may be contributing to falling smoking rates among adults and young people. It found that almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Britain are current or ex-smokers, most of whom are using the devices to help them quit smoking or to prevent them going back to cigarettes. Emerging evidence suggests some of the highest successful quit rates are now seen among smokers who use an e-cigarette and also receive additional support from their local stop smoking services.

Professor Ann McNeill of King’s College London, an independent author of the review, said: “In my view smokers should try vaping and vapers should stop smoking entirely. E-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking.”

Elizabeth Wade, Director of Policy at Pharmacy Voice, welcomed PHE’s work in this area. “However, licensing and regulation is still required to standardise these devices, provide greater assurances for patients and the public and align their use with current NRT products,” she said. “Until licensing is in place, where a pharmacy owner decides to sell e-cigarettes, we believe pharmacists should be free to exercise their clinical judgement, as they would normally do as part of their professional practice.”

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society repeated its long-held view on the subject. “E-cigarettes are currently unlicensed products with no standardisation of safety, quality or efficacy. As such, we believe they should not be sold or advertised from pharmacies,” said RPS Director for England Howard Duff.

Meanwhile, in light of a 48 per cent decline in the use of stop smoking services over three years, the Proprietary Association of Great Britain called on the government to provide greater investment and support to reverse the decline. Health and Social Care Information Centre figures show that the number of people using local stop smoking services and setting a quit date fell to an all-time low of 450,582 in 2014/15.

PAGB director of public affairs and communications Donna Castle said: “The use of Stop Smoking Services is declining at an alarming rate because service funding is being cut. We are calling on national and local health policy-makers to recognise the valuable contribution that stop smoking services can make to individuals, the NHS and the economy and to highlight the immediate need for sustained investment.”