E-cigs a health benefit

Public Health Wales (PHW) says that smokers who can’t or won’t quit will ‘significantly benefit their health’ if they switch completely to using electronic cigarettes.

PHW on Thursday published an updated position statement providing advice to the public about the potential impacts of electronic cigarettes on health. The updated advice says that, for children, young people and non-smoking adults, the use of electronic cigarettes is likely to be harmful to health.

‘Current smokers who want to quit are advised to find out about the range of help available to them and choose the approach that is best for them,’ PHW said. ‘This help includes proven NHS [National Health Service] services like Stop Smoking Wales and community pharmacies.

‘The advice for committed smokers who can’t or won’t quit is that switching completely to e-cigarettes will significantly benefit their health.’

“We recognise that there are a lot of confusing and contradictory messages around e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Julie Bishop, director of health improvement for PHW. “This is because there isn’t one simple answer – it is different for different groups of the population.

“In simple terms, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape. But if you are a committed smoker who is unwilling or unable to quit, switching completely to e-cigarettes will be beneficial to your health.”

PHW said it was committed to a smoke-free and nicotine-free Wales in the longer term.