As efforts to reduce tobacco-related harm gain ground globally, a new trend threatens to reverse the progress: the growing popularity of vaping. While World Lung Cancer Day highlights the dangers of smoking, a contentious debate over electronic cigarettes has emerged, complicating public health strategies aimed at smoking cessation.
Lung cancer remains one of the deadliest diseases globally, with about 85 per cent of cases directly linked to smoking. The remaining risk factors include second-hand smoke, environmental pollutants, radon gas, and genetics. In Kenya and many other countries, tobacco control efforts have relied on a comprehensive cessation programme. This includes mass media campaigns, community outreach initiatives, and access to nicotine replacement therapies such as gums and patches.
Kenya’s national approach is built on three pillars: reducing demand for tobacco, limiting its supply, and strengthening leadership and governance. These efforts have played a critical role in protecting the public from second-hand smoke and raising awareness about the health risks associated with tobacco.
However, the conversation has shifted with the rise of electronic cigarettes. Marketed as a harm-reduction alternative, these devices produce an aerosol by heating a liquid usually containing nicotine that users inhale. While proponents argue that vaping is less harmful than traditional smoking, skepticism persists within the medical community.
Some experts fear that vaping may represent more of a marketing ploy by the tobacco and nicotine industry than a legitimate public health tool. They point to history as a warning: past innovations such as filtered, low-tar, and low-nicotine cigarettes were introduced with promises of reduced harm but ultimately failed to deliver long-term health benefits.
Scientific consensus agrees that nicotine is the main driver of addiction in tobacco products. Withdrawal symptoms often lead to relapse, complicating cessation efforts. Approved nicotine replacement therapies, available for over three decades, have helped many quit smoking. However, they remain underused, in part due to lingering concerns that they prolong nicotine dependency and public misconceptions about nicotine itself.
While harm reduction has proven effective in other areas like methadone for drug addiction and condoms for HIV prevention many healthcare professionals remain cautious about applying the same model to vaping. Most advocate for full cessation of all tobacco and nicotine products, emphasizing that the long-term health impacts of e-cigarettes are still unknown.
