Today, the World Health Organization and the global tobacco industry watchdog STOP released a devastating report, “Catching the Next Generation,” which highlights how the tobacco and nicotine industries design their products, implement marketing campaigns, and shape policy environments to help them catch up. The youth of the world are in the clutches of addiction.
This report is issued ahead of the celebration of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, as the organization works to amplify the voices of young people who call on governments to protect them from the tobacco and nicotine industry, which makes them its targets.
The report shows that an estimated 37 million children in the world between the ages of 13 and 15 use tobacco, and that the rate of e-cigarette use among adolescents exceeds that of adults in many countries.
In the organization's European region, 20% of 15-year-olds surveyed reported that they had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
The situation is also worrying in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, as global youth tobacco surveys reveal alarming rates of tobacco use reaching approximately 35% among boys and 30% among girls in some countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The average rates of tobacco use among boys in the region are the highest compared to all WHO regions, reaching 15%.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the Organization, said: “Here is history repeating itself, as the tobacco industry seeks to sell the same nicotine to our children, but in different packages. This industry is actively targeting schools, children and young people with new products that are essentially a candy-flavored trap.” “How can they talk about harm reduction while marketing these dangerous, highly addictive products to children?”
These industries continue to market their products to young people with attractive flavors such as candy and fruit. Some research conducted in the United States of America concluded that more than 70% of youth e-cigarette users would quit smoking if the products were only available in tobacco flavor.
“These industries deliberately design products and use marketing strategies that appeal directly to children,” said Dr. Rüdiger Kresch, Director of WHO's Department of Health Promotion. “The use of flavors that appeal to children such as cotton candy and bubble gum, coupled with stylish, colorful, toy-like designs, is a blatant attempt to entice young children.” "In the clutches of addiction to these harmful products."
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