Consumers are advocating for greater access to accurate information on less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches.
This follows the release of an international study citing the crucial role of accurate information in smokers’ decisions to switch.
“We need policies that empower smokers with accurate information and access to less harmful choices,” said Anton Israel, president of the Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP).
His comments were in response to a British study demonstrating that smokers are more likely to quit or switch to vaping when they understand the significantly reduced harm of smoke-free products compared to traditional cigarettes.
The NCUP contends that widespread misinformation is hindering smokers from making informed choices. “Because of misinformation, consumers are deprived of available options, including switching to smoke-free alternatives scientifically proven to be far less harmful than cigarettes,” Israel said.
“The focus of global tobacco control should shift from banning or heavily restricting these alternatives to recognizing their potential to save lives,” he said.
Scientific studies consistently show that the combustion of tobacco, releasing thousands of toxic chemicals, is the primary cause of smoking-related diseases. Smoke-free nicotine products, by eliminating combustion, significantly reduce exposure to these harmful substances.
A recent study by researchers from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, published in February 2025 in Oxford Academic, found that smokers who perceived vaping as less harmful than smoking were more likely to have switched six years later.
Supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council, Wellcome, the University of Bristol, Cancer Research U.K. and the Society for the Study of Addiction, the study underscores the need to address public misperceptions about vaping.
Dr. Jasmine Khouja, senior author and senior research associate, said the study highlights the necessity for interventions to correct the prevailing misperceptions about vaping among smokers.
“In recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of people believe that vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking. Our study shows that these beliefs could be stopping some people from switching to vaping as a less harmful alternative. It is important for people who smoke to understand that although vapes are not risk-free, switching to vaping could dramatically reduce their risk of developing smoking-related diseases,” Khouja said.
Professor Ann McNeill of King’s College London, a co-author, reinforced the study’s key message. “Smoking is uniquely deadly and will kill one in two regular smokers, yet most people who smoke do not know vaping is less harmful and can help them to stop smoking completely. Our study shows the importance of addressing vaping misperceptions among people who smoke.”
About 85 percent of smokers in England believed in 2024 that vaping was as harmful or more harmful than smoking or were uncertain about its risks, up from 59 percent a decade earlier. Researchers stress that correcting these misconceptions is crucial in encouraging smokers to transition to safer alternatives.
Dr. Katherine East, lead author and associate professor in public health at BSMS, said “misperceptions” of vaping deterred adults who smoke from switching to vaping. “While vaping is not without risks, the evidence is clear that vaping is much less harmful than smoking and can help people successfully quit smoking,” East said.
“Unfortunately, misperceptions of vaping harms continue to increase, and we have found in our study that this could deter young adults who smoke from switching to vaping. In England in 2024, 85 percent of adults who smoked incorrectly perceived that vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking or did not know the relative harms, an increase from 59 percent 10 years before,” East said.
As governments worldwide prepare for the upcoming Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, local advocates like NCUP are urging policymakers to recognize the role of smoke-free alternatives in reducing smoking-related diseases and deaths.
The FCTC is a global treaty for tobacco control negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization.