#StampOutVapes Campaign is in full swing to protect our youth

Vapes: A national emergency

ByDr Amalina Bakri PhDSenior resident NHS doctor and Campaign ambassador

Protecting children starts with knowing what vape products contain. Every product needs testing for harmful, counterfeit, contaminated or over-strength contents before reaching the market.

This is not about rejecting compliant vapes as a smoking-cessation tool for adults. A legal product used by an adult smoker to quit is fundamentally different from an illegal, youth-targeted vape sold to children.

Children cannot make informed choices when product contents are unknown. “Less harmful than smoking” does not mean harmless for children, especially when vapes are illegal, contaminated, counterfeit or over the legal limit.

Testing must be matched by a strong licensing system for every shop selling vapes, with clear responsibility for what is stocked and who can buy it.

Packaging changes alone cannot make a dangerous vape safe. Robust enforcement must remove illegal, counterfeit, contaminated and over-strength products, stop them reaching children, and hold shops and suppliers responsible.

Parents, teachers and young people need clear, evidence-based support, but they cannot solve this alone. Government must separate legitimate adult harm reduction from the illegal youth market and act decisively to protect children.

The answer is a strong licensing system for vape shops, backed by regular testing, traceable supply chains and meaningful penalties. Government must enforce the law against retailers and suppliers who put children at risk.

Compliant adult cessation products must remain distinct from illegal youth-targeted vapes. Testing, licensing and enforcement are urgent priorities to protect children.

Dr Amalina Bakri is a doctor, mother and public health campaigner with more than 844,000 social media followers. She is a member of the Health Creator Leaders Network and a London-based specialist registrar and researcher at Imperial College London.

The Groucho Club, London

Concerned parents and leading health-professional influencers joined together to call for urgent action to protect young people from harmful and illegal vapes.

Testing • Licensing • Enforcement

The campaign is calling for rigorous testing of vape contents, a strong licensing system for retailers, and effective enforcement against illegal, counterfeit, contaminated, and over-strength products sold to children.

Join the waiting list for the Vape whitepaper September 2026

Subscribe to the newsletter

For Healthcare Professional Creators

Register free of charge to:

• Search the global creator community and discover thousands of fellow healthcare creators.
• Set your creator budget and connect with relevant client campaign briefs directly through the platform.
• Track your social media performance and better understand your audience and impact.
• Build professional connections with creators, organisations and potential campaign partners.
• Join as a healthcare student, start building your profile and become part of the next generation of responsible health communicators.

For Clients

Subscribe to access the authenticated Health Creator Leaders community of licensed healthcare creators on social media. The platform enables clients to:

• Search thousands of creators by relevant professional and campaign criteria.
• Build campaign shortlists in seconds, reducing the time required to identify suitable partners.
• Create briefs and automated campaign pitch proposals within the platform.
• Review creator performance across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
• Contact HCL creator members directly and develop credible, professionally led campaigns.
• Support responsible health communication by working with authenticated healthcare professionals.