On 20 September, Prof. Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, said during an interview on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that the NHS should continue to help people give up smoking using a range of methods and went on to describe e-cigarettes as "the number one quit aid". 

The Royal College of Physicians stated earlier this year that “the hazard to health arising from long-term vapour inhalation from the e-cigarettes available today is unlikely to exceed five per cent of the harm from smoking tobacco", and UK Cancer Research has stated that it supports a "balanced approach towards nicotine containing products (NCPs) such as e-cigarettes, which maximises their potential to help people quit smoking, whilst minimising the risks of unintended consequences that could promote smoking." 

Despite this, the World Health Organisation is still considering recommending a ban on vaping as it continues to meet in New Delhi this week for the Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties. 

Responding to the news coming out of New Delhi, Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns for The Freedom Association, said:

"If the World Health Organisation (WHO) was genuinely interested in tobacco harm reduction, it would drop its threat of a vaping ban. E-cigarettes and other tobacco harm reduction products, such as IQOS, have the ability to save hundreds of millions of lives. Banning existing products and preventing new ones from coming onto the market, would be a disaster for public health. We urge WHO to think again, and for the UK Government to resist any moves to restrict products that are at least 95 per cent safer than smoking combustible tobacco."