Headlines. The Times newspaper UK. “Health officials have endorsed e-cigarettes for the first time, claiming that they are a game-changer in the battle with smoking, the country’s biggest killer.” “If all of England’s eight million smokers switched to e-cigarettes overnight more than 75,000 lives a year would be saved, experts said. Not only are e-cigarettes 20 times less dangerous than tobacco, they are also among the most effective quitting aids,” they added.