A recent study has found that 61% of young people in India between the ages of 15-30 who have never used e-cigarettes are susceptible to taking up vaping in the future. The study surveyed 4,007 people, including 456 respondents from India, and identified exposure to e-cigarette advertising as having the second greatest effect on susceptibility, after current or past tobacco use. The World Health Organization has expressed concern over the adverse health effects of nicotine on the developing brain and potential negative outcomes from other chemicals present in e-cigarettes.
In India, 51% of respondents who had never used e-cigarettes before were curious about them, 49% said they would use them if offered by a friend, and 44% had intentions to use them in the next year. Almost half (47%) of Indian respondents had seen e-cigarette advertising, comparable to the UK (63%), China (51%), and Australia (30%), where the study also took place. Researchers have called for a complete ban on e-cigarette advertising in India, along with raising awareness of its harmful effects.
The majority of Indian respondents in the study had higher education and could be categorized in the high-income group. However, they were less likely to believe that e-cigarettes are addictive (66%) or harmful (66%) compared to those in Australia (87% and 83%, respectively), where susceptibility was the lowest (54%). According to the World Health Organization, around 27% of the Indian population use tobacco in some form. In 2019, India introduced the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act to protect its significant young population from the harms of e-cigarettes. Despite the penalties, young people still have access to e-cigarettes through non-compliant retailers without any health warning.
