Almost four in 10 university students in the UAE use vapes, research has found, the highest figure among Arab countries analysed.
Wide availability, many flavours, heavy online promotion and high incomes could be sparking interest in the nicotine products, researchers said.
While less harmful than smoking tobacco, vaping poses a health risk, according to doctors, who have suggested that tougher controls on availability could be considered. Currently, they can be bought in the UAE by anyone aged 18 or over.
The study by researchers in the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and the US surveyed 1,338 students across Arab countries, primarily Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which had 237 students quizzed.
Malik Sallam, based at the University of Jordan in Amman and lead author of the paper, described the vaping rate among university students in the UAE, at 39.6 per cent, as “a striking figure” that deserved attention.
“While we should be careful not to rush to conclusions, a vaping prevalence of nearly 40 per cent among university students is higher than what we have seen in many other contexts, and it prompts important questions about shifting norms and behaviour around nicotine use,” he said.
Picking up the habit
As reported in The National, research from 2022 found that 23 per cent of university students in the UAE had smoked an e-cigarette in the past month, so the latest findings may indicate that rates are increasing.
Dr Sallam said that among some young adults, vaping and narghile or shisha use may be seen as “not only socially acceptable, but even modern, sophisticated, or less harmful than traditional cigarettes”.
“Vaping seems to be gaining popularity among young adults, perhaps due to a mix of factors like broader product availability, changing social norms, targeted digital marketing and, in some cases, the belief that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to traditional smoking,” said Dr Sallam.
“That belief is not entirely unfounded, but it can be misleading if it oversimplifies the health risks involved. From a public health perspective, it is not just the prevalence that is concerning; it is the possible trajectory.”
Why are students taking up vaping?
University students in the UAE who use vapes said the choice of flavours helped to attract them to the habit.
“I honestly started with liking the flavours and loved the feeling it gives you and by now it's just a habit,” said a female student at a university in Abu Dhabi.
The 20-year-old Jordanian, who vapes “every day, throughout the day”, said that vaping was appealing because “it is easier to use and can be used indoors”.
Majd Al Homsi, a Syrian studying strategic communications and public relations at Abu Dhabi University, said that among his peers, about three in five people used vapes. He does not.
“I personally do not like the idea of putting things in my body that aren't beneficial to me or haven't been properly studied very well,” he said.
“Also, because I do a lot of sports and I’m a very active person so the long-term problems that come with vaping are not worth it to me.”
He said that vapes were “too easily available and accessible”, including to teenage pupils at school.
“One of the main reasons is the fact that they have become so cheap with so many options available, and that teenagers are simply able to send somebody who is of age to buy it for them makes it even worse. I believe there should be stricter purchasing rules,” he said.
Ahmad Makhlouf, 21, a Jordanian media production student at Abu Dhabi University, is a former cigarette and medwakh smoker who now vapes instead.
He said that vaping was, for him, “a routine thing” to satisfy his nicotine craving. He vapes every day and estimates that he has three to four puffs every 40 to 60 minutes.
“I am indeed aware and concerned about health risks from vaping but it’s the addiction itself that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Growing in numbers
The UAE figure, of 39.6 per cent of students using vapes, compares to 24.2 per cent in Kuwait, 20.5 per cent in Jordan, 8.8 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 7.3 per cent in Egypt.
Averaging across all countries, vapes were the most popular nicotine product, being used by 21.2 per cent of university students, followed by shisha or narghile at 12.9 per cent and cigarettes at 10.8 per cent.
Previous analysis of 146 studies in 53 countries found that on average 10.2 per cent of school and university students vaped, Dr Sallam said.
Published in Frontiers in Public Health, the new paper is titled Vaping Leads Tobacco Consumption among University Students in Arab Countries: a Study of Behavioural and Psychosocial Factors associated with Smoking.
Some of the study's authors are based at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital in Dubai and Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Dr Sallam said that it the new findings did not indicate that the UAE authorities were not trying hard to limit smoking rates.
“The UAE has taken important and commendable steps in recent years to address tobacco-related harms through strengthened policies, public awareness initiatives, and regulatory controls that have been recognised and applauded internationally,” he said.
“The figure we are seeing now may reflect the pace of change in the nicotine market, where product innovation and digital marketing often move faster than regulatory systems can adapt.”
Health warning
Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-smoking charity set up by the Royal College of Physicians in the UK, indicated that vaping should be considered only by those who already smoked.
“Vaping is an effective tool to help adult smokers quit,” she said. “While not risk-free, vapes are less harmful than smoking. However, if you don’t smoke, you shouldn’t vape.”
Bharat Pankhania, head of public health medicine teaching at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK, said that the way that vaping had been promoted meant that “it’s become an attractive thing, especially for young people”.
“After it’s become an attractive thing, they’re more likely to take it up,” he said. “The trouble is, nicotine is highly addictive, so you have a permanent customer for your e-cigarettes. Whilst the carcinogenic risk of e-cigarettes is low, there are other concerns.”
He said that these included an increased risk of pulmonary hypertension or high blood pressure in the arteries supplying the lungs.
“They should be restricted,” he said of vapes. “They should be confined to people giving up their addiction. It may be that they become a prescription item, rather than an item you buy on the high street.”
