Emily Stern, MailOnline Health Reporter
Updated on July 2, 2024 at 18:07 and July 2, 2024 at 18:22
World Health Organisation (WHO) officials said they could not recommend e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking because too little is known about their harms and benefits.
The international body’s ruling goes against NHS advice that the device is effective in helping people quit smoking, one of the biggest causes of illness and death in the UK.
In the world’s first guidelines outlining interventions to help people quit using tobacco products, the WHO described the evidence on e-cigarettes as “mixed.”
It added that e-cigarettes could be recommended as a smoking cessation aid “in the future, as more evidence becomes available”.
Instead, health officials should support “behavioral” interventions such as counselling, smartphone apps and nicotine replacement therapy to help people quit smoking.
“E-cigarettes are outside the scope of these guidelines as the potential benefits and harms of the use of these products are complex and are covered in separate literature,” the new WHO document states.
“These products may be addressed in the future as evidence accumulates.”
But the NHS says e-cigarettes are much less harmful and can help people quit smoking completely.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr Rüdiger Krech, WHO’s Director of Health Promotion, added: “It is difficult to overstate the enormous challenges people face when trying to quit smoking.”
“We need to deeply acknowledge the strength it takes to overcome this addiction and the suffering these individuals and their loved ones have endured.”
“These guidelines are designed to enable local communities and governments to provide the best possible support and assistance to people on this difficult journey.”
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This latest ruling is just the latest in a series of statements and rulings on e-cigarettes by the WHO.
A United Nations agency last year called for flavoured e-cigarettes to be banned worldwide and treated the same as tobacco.
At the time, the WHO said “urgent action” was needed to curb the sale of e-cigarettes, warning that they could make non-smokers addicted to nicotine.
The company came under fire from fact-checkers earlier this year after claiming that e-cigarette use could cause seizures within 24 hours.
E-cigarettes allow people to inhale nicotine through a vapor produced by heating a liquid that usually contains propylene glycol, glycerin, flavorings and other chemicals.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes contain no tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon, two of the most dangerous elements.
The effects of nicotine on the brain are well known: when inhaled, it releases chemical messengers such as dopamine that are associated with reward and pleasure within 20 seconds.
However, nicotine increases your heart rate and blood pressure and constricts your blood vessels because it triggers the release of the hormone adrenaline.
Although NHS chiefs insist that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking, they are not without risks: they contain harmful toxins and the long-term effects of these are still shrouded in mystery.
Experts are concerned that high nicotine content could raise blood pressure and lead to other heart problems.
Doctors have expressed concern that the coming decades could see a wave of lung disease, dental problems and even cancer among people who picked up the habit at a young age.
In April, a shocking study was published suggesting that e-cigarettes may increase the risk of heart failure.
There is also a theory that e-cigarettes cause cellular changes that could lead to cancer.
MailOnline also revealed earlier this year that more than 1,000 cases of e-cigarette-related side effects had been reported to UK regulators, five of which were fatal.
This extensive list includes everything from headaches to strokes and can be submitted by the public or by doctors.
Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are also becoming increasingly popular among young people.
The figures show that as traditional smoking declines, the proportion of kids using e-cigarettes has soared, with more than a third of 16- to 18-year-olds now regularly vaping.
By comparison, ten years ago, fewer than one in ten people did so.
This is despite the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s being banned and people found selling them to children being threatened with fines and prosecution by the Trading Standards Office.
Activists have long blamed the growing crisis on predatory manufacturers, who they say deliberately lure children with colorful packaging that they compare to highlighters and kid-friendly flavors like bubble gum and cotton candy.
In a bid to eradicate the epidemic of vaping among children in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak promised a total ban on disposable e-cigarettes last year.
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These devices, which are popular with children, are scheduled to be banned by early 2025.
Under the Prime Minister’s wider crackdown, e-cigarettes would be limited to four flavours, sold in plain cigarette-like packaging and displayed out of reach of children.
However, the July general election dashed hopes that the historic bill would be passed in this parliamentary session.
Germany and Ireland are both drafting their own proposals to regulate e-cigarettes, and Berlin city authorities are currently considering a total ban on disposable e-cigarettes.
Separately, Australia has taken steps to make e-cigarettes available only to those with a prescription.
Meanwhile, New Zealand has also banned e-cigarette stores from being located within 300 metres of schools and has also imposed regulations requiring all e-cigarettes to have removable batteries.
While the potential long-term dangers of e-cigarettes have yet to be determined, the evidence that smoking is harmful to your health is well established.
An estimated 76,000 people die each year in the UK from smoking-related health problems, including heart disease, stroke and cancer.