The government of the United Kingdom has banned disposable vapes as the number of children addicted to such types of tobacco has been increasing for three years.

Statistics cited by authorities indicate the number of children using vapes has tripled over the past three years.

Figures suggested that 7.6 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds use vaping regularly, the number exceeded 4.1 per cent in 2020.

Vaping products saw growth in value sales in Britain of 897.4 million pounds ($1.15 billion) in 2023, according to the data published by market researcher NIQ and The Grocer.

The sale of vape and any other tobacco to underage is banned in the UK, but disposable vapes are being sold in smaller, more colourful packaging than refillable ones, BBC quoted.

The surge in growth forced the government to take measures against the flavoured and other tobaccos.

Britain’s government in October proposed banning younger generations from ever buying cigarettes and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it also needed to act on youth vaping. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak noted that single-use vape driven an increase in the youth.

Fresh development suggests the measure will also be introduced to prevent the sale of vapes in the market which is targeting children at underage scale.

Researchers have found disposable vapes are widely used. One study published this month found that some 1.2 million current UK smokers use disposable vapes, as well as 744,000 former smokers.

“A ban could have substantial unintended consequences for these groups,” said Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow at University College London’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group and lead author of the study.

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Caitlin Notley, professor of addiction sciences at Norwich Medical School in the University of East Anglia, said the focus should remain on reducing smoking, as it is uniquely deadly.

But the government’s move was backed by Mike McKean, Vice President for Policy at The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, who said bold action was needed to curb youth vaping.

“The research and data around widespread e-cigarette use is still very much in its infancy,” he said, adding the long-term health impacts, especially for young people, are not known.

Additional output from Reuters.