WHO: e-cigarettes and vapes act as a "gateway" to tobacco consumption
Children and adolescents using them are more than twice as likely to later use conventional cigarettes.
Dubai: World Health Organisation chief labels e-cigarettes 'harmful,' advocating stricter controls to shield children and teenagers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog, released a report titled “Hooking the Next Generation,” highlighting the tobacco and nicotine industry's policy environment, marketing campaigns, and product development mechanisms to hook the youth.
This report comes just ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, which reinforces government intervention and amplifies young voices against tobacco and nicotine industry tactics.
Alarming statistics
The report reveals that approximately 37 million children aged 13-15 worldwide use tobacco, with e-cigarette usage among adolescents surpassing that of adults.
Alarmingly, 20% of 15-year-olds in the WHO European Region reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
The Global Youth Tobacco Surveys indicate even higher tobacco use rates in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, with up to 35% of boys and 30% of girls using tobacco in some countries. This region also records the highest average tobacco use rates for boys at 15%.
High susceptibility to future tobacco use
Unfortunately, the susceptibility to future tobacco use among adolescents who do not currently smoke is high. In some Eastern Mediterranean countries, about 30% of boys and girls who have never smoked believe they might start in the future. This highlights the urgent need for preventive strategies targeting both current and
potential users.
E-Cigarettes: A new threat
Despite continuous campaigns against tobacco use, the acceptance of e-cigarettes and similar tobacco products poses a significant threat to youth. Studies show that e-cigarette use increases the likelihood of conventional cigarette use among non-smoking youth by nearly three times.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, criticized the tobacco industry for targeting children with enticing, candy-flavored products. “These industries are actively targeting schools, children, and young people with new products that are essentially a candy-flavored trap,” he said.
Deceptive industry tactics
Dr. Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion, added, “These industries are intentionally designing products and utilizing marketing strategies that appeal directly to children. The use of child-friendly flavors like cotton candy and bubblegum, combined with sleek and colorful designs that resemble toys, is a blatant attempt to addict young people to these harmful products.”
Call for strong regulations
The deceptive tactics of the tobacco industry highlight the need for robust regulations to protect young people from a lifetime of harmful dependence.
WHO urges governments to create 100% smoke-free indoor public places, ban flavored e-cigarettes, restrict marketing, increase taxes, raise public awareness of the industry tactics, and support youth-led education initiatives.
Regional concerns and recommendations
“We must protect our young people from the devastating consequences of tobacco and nicotine use,” said Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. She emphasized the need to stop industry tactics that target children and young people in the region.
Jorge Alday, Director of STOP at Vital Strategies, noted that addicted youth represent a lifetime of profits for the tobacco industry. “That’s why the industry aggressively lobbies to create an environment that makes it cheap, attractive, and easy for youth to get hooked. If policymakers don’t act, current and future generations may face a new wave of harms characterized by addiction to various
tobacco and nicotine products.”
Youth Advocacy and Global Efforts
Youth advocates globally are taking a stand against the tobacco industry’s manipulative marketing, advocating for a tobacco-free future. At the latest session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP10), youth organizations delivered a powerful message to
policymakers: “Future generations will remember you as the ones who protected them or the ones who failed them and put them in danger.”
"Dr. Tedros recognized several youth organizations with the 2024 World No Tobacco Day Awards, including the Thailand Youth Institute, Tobacco Abstinence Club of Nigeria, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids of Argentina. These young leaders are championing a future free from the dangers of tobacco and nicotine addiction."
Governments, public health organizations, civil society, and empowered youth must work together to create a world where the next generation is free from the dangers of tobacco and nicotine addiction.