Today is "World No Tobacco Day"

The World Health Organization and public health champions worldwide are observing World No Tobacco Day, focusing on raising awareness about the dangers of tobacco use. 

World No Tobacco Day 2025, observed today, May 31, carries the theme “Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products.” This campaign by the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to shed light on the manipulative strategies employed by the tobacco and nicotine industries to make their harmful products enticing, particularly to young people.

🎯 Campaign Focus: Unmasking Industry Tactics

The 2025 campaign highlights how tobacco and nicotine companies use appealing flavors, colorful packaging, and targeted marketing to attract new users, especially youth and women. These tactics often create a false sense of safety around products like e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. For instance, there are over 16,000 unique flavors available in nicotine and tobacco products, which are frequently cited as a primary reason for initiation among young users. 

📊 Alarming Statistics

• An estimated 37 million children aged 13–15 years worldwide use tobacco. 

• In the Western Pacific Region, approximately 6 million adolescents were reported to use tobacco in 2022. 

• Marketing content promoting e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products has been viewed more than 3.4 billion times on social media platforms. 

🛡️ WHO's Call to Action

The WHO urges governments and communities to implement stronger regulations to protect public health, including:

• Banning flavors that make tobacco and nicotine products more appealing.

• Implementing plain packaging to reduce product attractiveness.

• Restricting advertising, promotion, and sponsorship of tobacco products.

• Increasing taxes on tobacco products to deter use.

These measures aim to reduce the appeal of tobacco and nicotine products, particularly among young people, and to counteract the deceptive tactics of the industry.

🌐 Global Observance

World No Tobacco Day is marked by various events and initiatives worldwide, including webinars, educational campaigns, and policy discussions, all aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and the industry's manipulative practices.

For more detailed information and resources, you can visit the official WHO World No Tobacco Day 2025 page.