The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged its Member States in the African Region to step up their efforts to protect young people from tobacco industry interference by ensuring governments honour and abide by their obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Article 5.3.
The call is contained in a statement by the WHO African Region to mark this year’s World No Tobacco Day, which is commemorated on May 31.
The message of the WHO Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti urged states to introduce safeguards to protect tobacco-control policy from tobacco industry interference.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland on May 21, 2003.
This year’s theme, “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference” is aimed at mobilising international efforts to shield young people from harmful tobacco and nicotine products and the deceptive strategies often used by the tobacco industry to market their products.
By this theme, young people across the world have a platform to call out for the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with products that are harmful to their health.
An estimated 1.3 million people die from second-hand smoke every year. These deaths are entirely preventable. People exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke are at risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancers.
Globally, more than 37 million young people aged between 13 and 15 years are using tobacco. In the African Region, tobacco use among young people aged 13 to 15 years is at 11.1 per cent for boys and 7.2 per cent for girls, which is about seven million tobacco users [WHO 2023: WHO global report on trends in the prevalence of tobacco use 2000-2025 Fifth Edition].
Moeti said Member States should counter tobacco industry tactics through evidence-based arguments and best practices with full involvement of civil society organisations.
Similarly, she said they should be raising awareness among the public on the tactics of the tobacco industry; and be exposing industry efforts to target youth and attract generations of people with addiction through innovative approaches, including marketing new and emerging products and using flavours.
“As an organisation, we encourage countries to accelerate their implementation of the WHO FCTC with stringent measures on marketing new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products, particularly designed to appeal to youth.
“These include shisha, e-cigarettes (flavoured products), nicotine pouches, and others that are aggressively promoted through social media platforms.”
“WHO African regional director said countries should implement and enforce a 100 per cent ban on public smoking and the use of electronic cigarettes (vaping), apply excise tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption and implement effective measures to communicate health risks through graphic health warnings to populations, including children and youth.
Moeti said, “I encourage all our partners, including other UN agencies, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, academia, and communities, to raise awareness about the risks of tobacco use and to support strong measures that shield the African youth from the harm of tobacco products and deceptive advertising practices of the tobacco industry.”
“As the world marked this year’s World No Tobacco Day, the 77th World Health Assembly was also held. In the opening session of the Assembly, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus highlighted that “tobacco use is declining in 150 countries, and there are now 19 million fewer smokers globally than there were two years ago.”
Ghebreyesus said, “This day provides us the opportunity to continue highlighting the dangers associated with tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
“Today, we reflect on our progress in tobacco control while recognising the challenges in our efforts to stop the tactics employed by the tobacco industry to frustrate tobacco control efforts.”
As part of efforts to protect people, especially young people, from tobacco industry interference, Moeti said, “We support our Member States in the African Region to sustain a consistent momentum in tobacco control by pushing for robust tobacco regulations, stringent controls on marketing strategies for new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products which are often designed to attract young people.”
According to the WHO efforts, 45 countries in the African region have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, WHO FCTC and 22 have ratified the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Twenty-two countries have adopted new tobacco control laws that have enabled them to implement the provisions of the tobacco control framework effectively.
“These national legislations have resulted in accelerated implementation of the WHO FCTC in more than 35 countries and contributed significantly to the downward trends in the prevalence of tobacco use in the region.
In addition, the prevalence of tobacco use among adults in the region has declined from 14.9 per cent in 2010 to 9.5 per cent in 2023.
The 2023 WHO Global Report on Trends has shown that 22 countries in the African region are on track to achieve a 30 per cent reduction by the year 2025 relative to 2010 rates.
Moeti noted that young people in the region are exposed to tobacco products through extensive social media and streaming platform campaigns, as well as the use of social media influencers to promote tobacco products to the youth covertly. “This poses a significant threat to their health and well-being,” she added.
Furthermore, she said, “We also know that the tobacco industry isn’t just in the business of producing, marketing, and selling tobacco products.
“It also spends considerable time and funds promoting misleading science, lobbying, and performing so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. These tactics are meant to attract young people and to influence policies to favour its commercial interests over public health.”
However, Moeti said as tobacco use continues to decline among adults, the tobacco industry has diversified its arsenal to attack and subvert any strong tobacco control efforts and has been trying to grow its portfolio, adding new markets for tobacco and nicotine products.
“The industry uses marketing strategies for new products specially designed to appeal to youth, such as e-cigarettes, flavoured products, smokeless tobacco, snus, and pouches that are aggressively promoted through social media.
“This shows that more efforts are still needed to stop the tobacco industry’s relentless efforts to market its products to young people.”