London - E-cigarettes do not help smokers to quit tobacco, a major study has concluded.
Researchers found that those who use “vaping” gadgets are in fact 28 percent less likely to give up traditional cigarettes.
The findings are a blow to health officials in England, who have insisted that e-cigarettes are a key tool to reducing smoking rates.
The study, led by the University of California San Francisco, reviewed 38 previous studies assessing the link between e-cigarette use and cigarette cessation among adult smokers.
Published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, it concluded that e-cigarettes do not help smokers quit. Author Dr Sara Kalkhoran said they should not be recommended for the purpose until there is solid proof that they do.
Public Health England, in a landmark report last summer, claimed that e-cigarettes are “95 percent” safe and called for the devices to be available on the NHS.
While most experts agree vaping is far safer than smoking tobacco, many are concerned about unresolved safety concerns. The World Health Organisation has warned that they may be toxic to bystanders, and the Welsh government is planning to prohibit the practice in restaurants, pubs and offices.
Last month the advocate general to the European Court of Justice said e-cigarettes “possibly cause risks to human health” and may provide a “gateway” for teenagers to go on to smoke tobacco.
The authors of the earlier Public Health England report criticised the new study, saying it looked only at current smokers who had at some point used an e-cigarette, thus excluding any former smokers who may have used such a device to quit.
Daily Mail