Chinese pharmacist who made e-cigs possible
Published on: Mon, Jul 21, 2025
By: David Thien Text Size: Hon Lik puffs on an electronic tobacco pipe. - AFP pic. WARSAW: Electronic cigarettes would not be around today had a Chinese pharmacist not decide to do something about his smoking habit back in 2001. Hon Lik who was using high-dose nicotine patches to stop smoking devised a system on a large console using food additives as solvents.
Advertisement The challenge was managing to scale the mechanism down to a miniature size, suitable for a hand-held cigarette-sized device, and getting the right dose of nicotine while also getting the right odours from additives. A year earlier he developed the idea of using a piezoelectric ultrasound-emitting element to vaporise a pressurised jet of liquid containing nicotine diluted in a propylene glycol solution. Hon also proposed placing the liquid in a disposable plastic cartridge, which serves as a reservoir and mouthpiece. These inventions are the basis of the present-day electronic cigarettes which many wanting to kick the habit rely on. Hon patented his device in China and the first electronic cigarette was manufactured that same year in Beijing. The story of Hon Lik was documented at the 12th Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN 2025) at the Warsaw Presidential Hotel from June 19 to 21. Hon Lik accepted patronage of the Global Forum on Nicotine in 2015, which offers a platform for debate and information-sharing, while remaining focussed on the ultimate goal of tobacco harm reduction: accelerating the end of smoking-related death and disease. More than 8 million out of some 1.3 billion who still smoke die yearly. Scientific data show that the primary cause is high levels of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents or HPHCs in smoke formed during the combustion of tobacco. According to Dr Mark Tyndall, the author of 'Vaping – Behind the Smoke and Fears', there are more than one billion smokers globally and the vast majority would die prematurely from smoking-related diseases. 'What people don't know is that there is a cure: vaping. Vaping is a non-toxic way to deliver the nicotine that smokers need without the disease-producing byproducts of burning tobacco. 'Compared with cigarettes, any health risks associated with vaping are very small,' he told the 12th Global Forum on Nicotine 2025 where he launched his book. PMI's Scientific Engagement Manager Markus Stratman told Daily Express during a media engagement at PMI's state-of-the-art research and development centre, The Cube, that nicotine patches sold in pharmacies have limited success in curbing smoking. This is because smokers do not experience the necessary level of nicotine delivery to effectively address their cravings. Harm reduction is an evidence-based public health approach grounded in human rights. It consists of pragmatic policies, regulations and actions that reduce health risks to individuals and communities by, for example, providing access to safer forms of products or substances, or encouraging less risky behaviours. Harm reduction does not focus on the eradication of products or behaviours, recognising that prohibition often leads to unintended consequences. Evidence-based, it first emerged during the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, successfully helping reduce transmission with advice on safer sex and interventions like needle exchange for people who use drugs. The Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) has been held yearly since 2014. It is the only international conference to focus on the role of safer nicotine products in helping people switch from smoking combustible cigarettes. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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