Tobacco and nicotine industry tactics addict youth for life
Young people using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in many countries
23 May 2024 – Geneva New York Cairo – The World Health Organization (WHO) and STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog, are launching today “Hooking the next generation,” a report highlighting how the tobacco and nicotine industry designs products, implements marketing campaigns and works to shape policy environments to help them addict the world’s youth.
This comes just ahead of World No Tobacco Day marked on 31 May, where WHO is amplifying the voices of young people who are calling on governments to protect them from being targets of the tobacco and nicotine industry.
The report shows that globally an estimated 37 million children aged 13–15 years use tobacco, and in many countries, the rate of e-cigarette use among adolescents exceeds that of adults. In the WHO European Region, 20% of 15-year-olds surveyed reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
The Global Youth Tobacco Surveys reveal alarming tobacco use rates in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: in some countries up to 35% among boys and 30% among girls. Indeed, of all WHO regions, the Eastern Mediterranean Region has the highest average tobacco use rates for boys at rate of 15%.
It is also vital to address the high susceptibility to future tobacco use among adolescents who currently do not smoke. In some countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, up to around 30% of both boys and girls who have never used tobacco believe they can smoke in the future. As