'Every Vape is a Hit to Your Health' Anti-Vaping Campaign
Campaign overview
Cancer Institute NSW is delivering the award winning ‘Every Vape is a Hit to Your Health’ campaign to young people aged 14-24 in NSW. The campaign highlights the health harms and harmful ingredients in e-cigarettes (vapes).
The campaign is live from 24 November 2025 to 23 April 2026. It is being delivered across a range of mass media channels, including social media, online video, native, search, audio, digital display, cinema and outdoor advertising.
The campaign connects young people to more information about vaping and quit support including digital apps, such as Pave, Quitline telephone support, talking to their GP and behavioural quit strategies.
For more information on vaping and quit support, young people can visit www.cancer.nsw.gov.au/vaping.
Why we need a campaign
E-cigarette use among young people is increasing significantly.[1] Vaping is harmful to health.[2]
E-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals and toxins such as formaldehyde and heavy metals.[2] The majority of e-cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance.[2]
‘Every Vape is a Hit to Your Health’ is one part of NSW Health’s comprehensive strategy to address the increasing use of e-cigarettes among young people in NSW.
Campaign audience
The campaign targets people aged 14-24 in NSW who currently vape and those who might be at risk of future uptake.
Focus audiences:
- Aboriginal people aged 14-24 in NSW
- Culturally and linguistically diverse people aged 14-24 in NSW: Arabic, Mandarin, Nepali, Vietnamese and Cantonese-speaking.
Tailored and translated assets, and targeted media will be used to reach and engage these focus audiences.
Campaign objectives
- Maintain the proportion of people who believe vaping is not safe.
- Increase the proportion of people who vape who seriously intend to quit vaping in the next 6 months.
- Increase the proportion of people who vape who have made attempts to quit vaping.
- Maintain the proportion of people who don’t vape who intend to continue not to vape.
Key messages
- Vaping can cause lung damage.
- Vaping can leave you breathless.
- The nicotine in vapes makes them highly addictive like cigarettes.
- Vapes can explode and cause severe burns, usually around the face, hands, thighs and genitals.
- Vapes can cause severe nicotine poisoning. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea.
- Nicotine can harm brain development and cause impaired attention, learning and memory.
- Quitting nicotine can improve your mental health.
- Chemicals in vapes can cause gum disease.
- Vaping can cause damage to your mouth, throat, teeth and gums.
- Vapes contain hundreds of toxic chemicals, including those that can cause cancer, heart disease and lung damage. Vapes contain:
- Formaldehyde found in disinfectant and is known to cause cancer.
- Acrolein found in weed killer and is toxic to the heart and lungs.
- Mercury found in batteries and is known to damage fertility.
- Arsenic found in poisons and is known to damage internal organs.
- Benzene found in bug spray and is known to damage DNA.
- Chlorine found in disinfectant and is known to cause lung damage.
Campaign assets
The ‘Every Vape is a Hit to Your Health’ campaign uses a variety of creative tools to engage young people and encourages them to weigh up the perceived benefits of vaping against the proven harms.
The campaign includes influencers and testimonials from young people who previously vaped who have experienced the health harms of vaping. These young people share their real stories around vaping and quitting. Respiratory health professionals also feature in the campaign, as experts in this field who have high credibility with young people.
A selection of campaign assets are available for stakeholders to use while the campaign is live. These can be shared on internal channels, social media, websites, and newsletters. To request assets or license the campaign, please email CINSW-Prevention@health.nsw.gov.au.
Key campaign assets available to use while the campaign is live are:
Stakeholders are also encouraged to share campaign posts from the Cancer Institute NSW Facebook page to promote the campaign messages with your communities.
Resources
NSW Health offers resources about vaping for parents and carers, teachers and schools, health professionals, and young people.
Evidence
A variety of resources have been utilised in the development of this campaign. Please visit the below reports for further information outlining the evidence on the harms of vaping.
- E-cigarette analysis project: summary report (PDF)
- E-cigarette use among youth and young adults. A report of the Surgeon General
- E-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine products
- E-cigarettes, smoking and health. A literature review update
- Electronic cigarettes and health outcomes: systematic review of global evidence
- Electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems: a brief
- Health effects of electronic cigarettes: an umbrella review and methodological considerations
- Inhalation toxicity of non-nicotine e-cigarette constituents: risk assessments, scoping review and evidence map (PDF)
- Non-nicotine liquids for e-cigarette devices in Australia: chemistry and health concerns
- Public health consequences of e-cigarettes
- The health consequences of smoking: 50 years of progress. A report of the Surgeon General (PDF)
- The impact of vaping on adolescent mental health (PDF)
Further information
For more information, please visit: cancer.nsw.gov.au/quit-smoking-campaigns or reach out to the team at CINSW-Prevention@health.nsw.gov.au.
1. Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence. HealthStats NSW. Sydney: NSW
Ministry of Health. Available at: https://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/indicator?name=-beh-smo-ecig-phs
2. Banks E, Yazidjoglou A, Brown S, Nguyen M, Martin M, Beckwith K, Daluwatta A, Campbell S, Joshy G. Electronic cigarettes and health outcomes: systematic review of global evidence. Report for the Australian Department of Health. National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra: April 2022.