E-cigarettes could save millions of smokers, London conference told

Switching to e-cigarettes could save millions of smokers' lives, a conference on the increasingly popular devices heard, though some experts warned more research on the health effects is needed.

The merits of e-cigarettes were thrashed out at a one-day gathering of 250 scientists, policymakers, industry figures and enthusiasts at the Royal Society in London on Tuesday.

The use of electronic cigarettes - battery-powered devices that simulate smoking by heating and vaporising a liquid solution containing nicotine - has grown rapidly, with tobacco manufacturers jumping on the trend.

Many delegates merrily "vaped" away through the indoor conference sessions, including one man puffing on a large e-pipe and another inhaling an e-cigar that lit up blue.

"Cigarettes are killing 5.4 million people per year in the world," said Robert West, a health psychology professor and the director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK.

He told delegates that switching to e-cigarettes could save millions of lives, but the debate was about "whether that goal can be realised and how best to do it".