The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging governments to protect young people from tobacco, e-cigarettes and other nicotine items by banning or tightly regulating these products.
In a statement, the WHO said the industry costs the world more than 8 million human lives, 600 million trees, 200, 000 hectares of land and 22 billion tonnes of water.
In addition, the majority of tobacco is grown in low-and-middle-income countries, where water and farmland are often desperately needed for food production.
This leads to not only a shortage of vital resources but also contributes to deforestation.
WHO also said cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes contribute to plastic pollution.
If concern, are the 37 million children, aged between 13 – 15 years using tobacco.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, has been saying since May 2024, “Governments must strengthen tobacco control measures & make producers responsible for the environmental & economic costs of dealing with tobacco product waste.”
He further adds “history is repeating, as the tobacco industry tries to sell the same nicotine to our children in different packaging. These industries are actively targeting schools, children and young people with new products that are essentially a candy-flavoured trap. How can they talk about harm reduction when they are marketing these dangerous, highly-addictive products to children?”
Dr Ruediger Krech, Director, WHO Director of Health Promotion, said “these industries are intentionally designing products and utilizing marketing strategies that appeal directly to children. The use of child-friendly flavours like cotton candy and bubblegum, combined with sleek and colourful designs that resemble toys, is a blatant attempt to addict young people to these harmful products.”