UKVIA Vaping Industry Forum 2025

Vaping has triggered a public health revolution - an unprecedented opportunity to eradicate smoking for good.

Against a backdrop of intense scrutiny, misinformation and regulatory uncertainty, it has emerged as the most effective and most popular tool for helping adult smokers quit and contributed to historic low smoking rates in the UK.

Yet the job is far from finished.

Six million people in the UK still smoke, and many of them remain unsure, misinformed or unsupported when it comes to making the transition to vaping. The narrative around vaping also remains fragmented - distorted by media panic and an inconsistent regulatory approach.

If vaping is to reach its full public health potential, a fundamental shift in mindset is needed. Not just from smokers, but from all corners of society - including policymakers, regulators, healthcare professionals, industry leaders and the wider public.

We must reframe the conversation around harm reduction, replacing stigma with science, confusion with clarity and opposition with opportunity.

This year’s UKVIA Forum comes at a pivotal moment for the sector, with the disposable ban now in force, global developments reshaping the industry and an impending decision on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The event – which is the largest and most influential of its kind – will explore the path forward, bringing together experts, advocates, innovators and stakeholders to discuss what that critical mindset shift looks like in practice.

It will also delve into how geopolitical shifts, policy reform, and emerging global markets are transforming the vape supply chain - and what this means for the future of the industry.

Info: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill hands sweeping new powers to the health secretary - powers Wes Streeting could soon inherit. How he chooses to use them will have lasting implications for harm reduction and public health. Will future regulation be driven by politics or by evidence?
This session explores what a post-Bill approach could look like - and why reframing the regulatory mindset is essential to keeping smokers, not politics, at the centre of policy.

Info: Despite clear evidence that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking, half of all smokers still believe it's just as dangerous - or worse. This deep-rooted misperception is one of the biggest barriers to quitting and threatens to derail vaping’s public health potential.
This session explores the roots and reach of misinformation - how it spreads, who amplifies it and how we help smokers not just separate fact from fiction but also motivate them to make the switch so mistrust in vaping doesn’t result in a missed opportunity to save millions of lives.

Info: Healthcare professionals play a pivotal role in helping smokers quit, yet many remain hesitant to recommend vaping - often due to the same misinformation that clouds public understanding. When HCPs lack confidence in the quitting tool, a critical opportunity to support harm reduction is lost.
This session explores how we can equip the NHS workforce with the facts and embed vaping into frontline conversations, as well as how we motivate smokers to kick the habit by emphasising the deadly effects of cigarettes. Changing the health mindset is vital to ensuring every health interaction supports a smokefree future.

Info: The World Health Organization’s outspoken opposition to vaping is shaping global health policy in ways that could stall progress towards a smokefree future. By equating vaping with smoking, the WHO risks undermining one of the most effective harm reduction tools available today.
In this session, Jeannie Cameron delivers a debrief on the recent COP-11 summit and highlights why the ideology cannot come in the way of sound public health guidance.

Info: Building on Jeannie’s COP-11 debrief, this session will see stop smoking expert and health psychologist Sairah Salim-Sartoni conduct a revealing interview with the WHO’s AI health assistant S.A.R.A.H to explore how the health body’s anti-vaping narratives are being amplified and reinforced through emerging health technologies.

Info: Vaping doesn’t exist in a vacuum - what happens in the UK sector is influenced by global dynamics, just as what happens in the UK can impact practices, approaches and trends across borders.
This session brings together international voices to explore the interconnect between the domestic and global sectors, how the growing product mix is influencing harm reduction around the world, the opportunities and challenges of emerging markets and how factors such as policy reform and the ongoing tariff war are reshaping supply chains and impacting the way we do business on the international stage.

Info: The UK has long been recognised for its pragmatic approach to vaping policy, which has contributed to a historic decline in smoking rates. However, recent powers introduced under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill present a critical moment for the industry to reaffirm vaping’s essential role in public health.
This session looks at what action industry leaders must take - from regulatory compliance across the board and the highest levels of product standards through to transparency and continuous innovation - to reaffirm vaping’s role as a force for public health and to secure its future.

Info: This final session hands the mic to delegates. Through group collaboration and interactive discussion, attendees will be invited to reflect on the day’s biggest talking points - and help steer the roadmap for a major shift in the vaping mindset for the UK and beyond.

Info: Join us for an informal networking reception, featuring drinks, food and the opportunity to connect with fellow delegates, speakers and stakeholders. The session is hosted by our reception sponsor, who will deliver a short presentation on the direction of the industry and their own contributions to the future of vaping.

Host or Publisher UK Vaping Industry Association