Sooner or later South Africa will follow the lead of countries like the US and UK where laws governing e-cigarettes are more in line with that governing traditional cigarettes. Yet, the ‘fight’ against e-cigarettes should be cautiously approached, argues Dr Jack van Zyl, senior medical adviser at Sanlam.
”While there are definite advantages to increasing regulation against e-cigarettes, we still don’t yet know exactly how harmful they are as no long-term as no studies have yet been concluded on e-cigarette smoking. We do, however, know that the majority of e-cigarettes contain nicotine in liquid form and various chemicals, some of which are used to vaporise the liquid. While they may have a low dose of nicotine, this remains is a highly addictive substance, best avoided.”
E-cigarettes, Dr Van Zyl says, are ultimately still toxic and can most certainly increase your risk of cancer and other serious illnesses like heart disease and stroke.
He notes a theory that there is a strong likelihood that someone who starts smoking by using e-cigarettes, will later move on to smoke traditional cigarettes.
South African insurers are unable to determine which e-cigarette brands are indeed nicotine-free, and therefore classify users of all e-cigarettes as smokers. Dr van Zyl says there is also a significant chance that e-cigarette users may take up regular cigarettes again. “However, none of our underwriting policies are cast in stone. If it is scientifically shown that e-cigarettes do not increase users’ risks of contracting dread diseases such as cancer, insurers will certainly relook policies and pricing models.”
Despite this, the use of e-cigarettes is definitely preferable to traditional cigarette smoking, he argues. “It is always better not to smoke. But the health risks associated with e-cigarettes are almost certainly lower as they don’t contain tar and many of the other chemicals in cigarettes.