The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has once again found high certainty evidence that e-cigarettes lead to better chances of quitting smoking than traditional Nicotine Replacement Products (NRP). Since the last update in 2022, ten new studies have been added to the review. Currently, 88 studies with more than 27,235 participants have been evaluated.

“We have very clear evidence that, though not risk free, nicotine e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful than smoking. Some people who haven’t had success in the past with other quit aids have found e-cigarettes have helped them,” says Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, co-author of the Cochrane Review, who was based at the University of Oxford during the research and is now Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

A Cochrane Review is a systematic review of research in health care and health policy that is published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The classification of certainty is based on four levels, with High Certainty being the highest level of classification.

Dustin Dahlmann, President of IEVA: “With the new Cochrane publication, the evidence is now very strong that e-cigarettes are a very good way to stop smoking. Political decision-makers and the WHO have a responsibility to base their e-cigarette policy on these results. The aim is to reduce the high smoking rates worldwide.”