In 2013, the Tobacco Policy Review Group published Tobacco Free Ireland, a report which set a target for Ireland to reduce smoking prevalence to less than 5% by 2025. The report identified tobacco-related harm reduction as a key issue for consideration. Since e-cigarettes’ launch in the European Union (EU) in 2006 and in the United States of America (USA) in 2007, research on their potential benefits in terms of tobacco-related harm reduction, and on the public health harms of e-cigarettes, has grown. This systematic evidence review outlines what is known to date about using e-cigarette and initiation smoking tobacco cigarettes. 

Research question: The Department of Health’s research question is ‘Does e-cigarette use by adolescents who are cigarette-naive at baseline lead to subsequent cigarette smoking?’