Awareness and Perception of Cigarette & E-Cigarette (vaping) Risks Among the Young Generation of Allied health Sciences Students

With the growing popularity of using e-cigarettes and the different perceptions of their safety, it is essential to measure the opinion of future health professionals. The research sought to establish gaps in perception and knowledge regarding cigarette and e-cigarette use, and peer, family, and media factors on students' attitudes. A standardized questionnaire was used for data collection, and analysis was conducted using SPSS Version 21. The results clarify the need for education programs that challenge e-cigarette misconceptions and analyze the hazards associated with cigarette smoking. The research confirmed that while most of the persons knew the health risks of smoking conventional cigarettes, there was an enormous knowledge gap regarding the risks of e-cigarettes. About 30% of the respondents had smoking brothers, 22% had smoking fathers, and more than 30% had smoking close friends. Teen perception was also shaped by media coverage of e-cigarettes as a benign substitute. Such outcomes show that we have to invest in education that, apart from describing the harm from cigarette smoking, can influence the knowledge concerning e-cigarettes too. The institutions might support the promotion of the campus as being smoke-free and could reduce prevalence rates by having health promotion strategies working in higher-learning institutions effectively.