More or Less - Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking
Download Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking
According to the World Health organisation, smoking kills some 7 million people every year. It is one of the world’s leading causes of preventable death.
Because smoking causes lung cancer and other awful health conditions, many smokers switch to vaping - using nicotine-based e-cigarettes.
But the World Health organisation is also concerned about vaping. Last year they said 100 million people around the world are now using e-cigarettes, including millions of children, and warned that they were fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction.
But how do the health risks of these two means of getting nicotine into your bloodstream compare?
According to a recent headline in the Daily Mail, they’re basically the same. Here’s the headline:
“Vaping is linked to lung and mouth cancer in major study, as experts warn: 'It is NOT safer than smoking’”
But is vaping really just as bad for you as smoking?
CONTRIBUTOR:
Professor Lion Shahab, Co-Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group
CREDITS:
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Reporter/producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Dave O’Neil
Editor: Richard Vadon
Published on Saturday, 9th May 2026.
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