This year, the celebration of World No Tobacco Day coincided with the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly. During the opening session of the Assembly, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), highlighted the fact that tobacco consumption is declining in 150 countries and that There are 19 million fewer smokers in the world today than there were two years ago.
The international community celebrated yesterday, Friday May 31, Anti-Tobacco Day. A day which offers the opportunity to highlight the dangers inherent in tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. Held on the theme “Protecting children from interference by the tobacco industry”, World No Tobacco Day calls for global mobilization to protect young people from harmful tobacco and nicotine products, as well as against deceptive strategies frequently used by the tobacco industry to market their products.
For the World Health Organization (WHO), this theme provides a platform for young people around the world to ask the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with products harmful to their health.
Speaking of progress in the fight, the WHO reports that globally, more than 37 million young people aged 13 to 15 use tobacco. In the African Region, smoking among young people aged 13 to 15 years reaches 11.1% among boys and 7.2% among girls, representing approximately seven million tobacco users.
“ An estimated 1.3 million people die each year from passive smoking. These deaths are entirely preventable. Individuals exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke are at increased risk of death from heart disease, stroke, respiratory conditions, type 2 diabetes, and various types of cancers ”, said the WHO press release.
As part of efforts to protect populations, particularly young people, from interference by the tobacco industry, WHO has informed: “Thanks to our efforts, 45 countries in the African Region have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, while another 22 countries have ratified the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Additionally, 22 countries adopted new tobacco control laws that enabled them to effectively implement the provisions of the tobacco control framework. These are national laws that have played a crucial role in accelerating the implementation of the WHO FCTC in more than 35 countries, thereby contributing significantly to the decline in tobacco prevalence In the region “.
However, she reported that the prevalence of smoking among adults in the Region has also decreased, from 14.9% in 2010 to 9.5% in 2023. If tobacco consumption continues to decline among adults, it is clear that the tobacco industry has diversified its arsenal to vigorously counter tobacco control efforts. It is working to develop its markets by offering new tobacco products that are also nicotine-based. The industry employs a variety of marketing strategies to promote new products specifically designed to appeal to young people, such as e-cigarettes, flavored products, smokeless tobacco, snus and nicotine pouches, which are the subject of aggressive promotion on social media », remarked the WHO. And to invite Members of the WHO African Region to intensify efforts to protect young people from interference by the tobacco industry by taking measures to ensure compliance by governments with their obligations under the Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention, by putting in place safeguards to protect tobacco control policies from any interference by the tobacco industry; to combat tobacco industry tactics using evidence-based arguments and best practices as a springboard, while actively involving civil society organizations; to raise awareness of tobacco industry tactics but also to expose the industry’s attempts to target young people and attract new generations of addicts through innovative strategies, such as the marketing of new and emerging products and the use of flavorings.
DENISE ZAROUR MEDANG
