Call for e-cigarettes to be given on prescription by Britain's NHS

E-cigarettes were declared 95 percent less harmful than smoking by England's official health watchdog on Wednesday.

Public Health England (PHE) said the figure was based on a new independent review by experts. The conclusion was that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than tobacco and have the potential to help smokers quit smoking.

PHE wants e-cigarettes to be prescribed to smokers by Britain's National Health Service, but only when the products are medicinally regulated.

Key findings of the review also revealed nearly half the population (44.8 percent) don't realize e-cigarettes are much less harmful than smoking. There was also no evidence e-cigarettes act as a gateway drug to smoking for children or non-smokers.

The review was commissioned by PHE and led by Prof. Ann McNeill of King's College London and Prof. Peter Hajek of Queen Mary University of London.

The two academics said the evidence pointed to e-cigarettes contributing to falling smoking rates among adults and young people.

Evidence found that almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Britain are current or ex-smokers, and most are using the devices to help them quit smoking or to stop them returning to cigarettes.

"E-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking," said McNeill.

"My reading of the evidence is that smokers who switch to vaping remove almost all the risks smoking poses to their health," said Hajek.

Emerging evidence suggests some of the highest successful quitting rates are now seen among smokers who use an e-cigarette and also receive additional support from local "stop smoking" services.

Prof. Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at PHE said: "E-cigarettes are not completely risk-free, but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm. The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting."

Prof. Linda Bauld, an expert in cancer prevention at Cancer Research UK, also described the new report as important.

"The overall evidence points to e-cigarettes actually helping people to give up smoking tobacco. Free Stop Smoking Services remain the most effective way for people to quit, but we recognize the potential benefits for e-cigarettes in helping large numbers of people move away from tobacco," Bauld said.

Around 200 people in Britain die each day from diseases linked to smoking. Endit