Experts’ new video highlights smoking impacts
TOBACCO IS 95% MORE HARMFUL THAN VAPING
A HARD-HITTING video has been released urging North East smokers to quit for New Year.
Public Health England’s film features smoking experts Dr Lion Shahab and Dr Rosemary Leonard carrying out an experiment to demonstrate the high levels of cancer-causing chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker over a month, compared to not smoking or using an e-cigarette.
Using three separate bell jars filled with cotton wool to represent a person’s lungs, at the end of the test the cotton wool in the one simulating smoking is covered in tar.
Research estimates that while not risk-free, vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking.
Dr Shahab, leading smoking cessation academic from University College London, said: “The false belief that vaping is as harmful as smoking could be preventing thousands of smokers from switching to e-cigarettes to help them quit.
“I hope this illustrative experiment helps people see the huge damage caused by smoking that could be avoided by switching to an e-cigarette.”
The film is released at the same time as anti-smoking charity Fresh and North East GP Dr Chris Tasker are urging the region’s smokers to quit, with a clear message that e-cigarettes have fewer harmful chemicals than tobacco if they switch to vaping.
Around 2.5 million adults are using e-cigarettes in England and they have helped thousands of people successfully quit smoking.
Yet people still either wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking, or simply don’t know that vaping poses much lower risks to health.
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: “At least one in two long-term smokers are going to die from an avoidable smoking-related illness.
“We’re encouraging smokers to try and make a quit attempt at least once a year – and New Year is a great time to give it a go and make this time the one you quit for good.
“There’s lots of help out there for people thinking about stopping smoking, including vaping which is at least 95% less harmful than smoking.
“Electronic cigarette products are now the country’s most popular quitting aid, and we need to support anyone using them to stay tobacco free.”
Dr Chris Tasker, CRUK Strategic GP for the Northern Cancer Alliance, said: “Smoking is one of the things I see a lot of in my job.
“It can have a big impact on a person’s health, including lung diseases and COPD, as well as many different types of cancer.
“When someone starts smoking, they often won’t see the consequences until later in life when the real problems start.
“There is still a lot of confusion surrounding vaping as many people believe it is as harmful as smoking, when in fact vaping poses much lower risks to someone’s health.
“I regularly get asked questions by my patients – is vaping safe? Is it safer than smoking? The advice I give my patients is that stopping smoking is the best thing they can do for their health.
“There are much fewer chemicals in vaping than in cigarettes, so it is far less harmful than smoking, and can be helpful to people who might otherwise struggle to quit.”