World No Tobacco Day - 31 May 2021

Tobacco causes 8 million deaths every year. Evidence released this year shows that smokers were more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of tobacco users saying they want to quit. Commit to quit today and sign the pledge.

Pledge to quit Facebook Live Events Materials

Commit to Quit

Quitting can be challenging, especially with the added social and economic stress that have come as a result of the pandemic, but there are a lot of reasons to quit.

Worldwide around 780 million people say they want to quit, but only 30% of them have access to the tools that can help them do so. Together with partners, WHO will provide people with the tools and resources they need to make a successful quit attempt.

Benefits to quitting

WHO World No-Tobacco Day Awards recognize advances in Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay, Saint Lucia, Brazil, and the U.S.

WHO supports people quitting tobacco to reduce their risk of severe COVID-19

Live Conversations:
Commit to Quit Tobacco: how can we move forward?

MORE INFO

Smokers have a greater risk of developing a severe case and dying from COVID-19.

Quit tobacco today!

Why should you quit smoking and how can you do it? +

Smokers have a higher risk of getting coronavirus because they are constantly putting their hands to their lips.

And then, if they get coronavirus, they run a greater risk of getting a severe case because their lung function is impaired.

Quit today to reduce these risks and start living a healthier life.

Quick tips to curb your cravings:

Delay: Delay as long as you can before giving in to your urge.
Deep breathing: Take 10 deep breaths to relax yourself from within until the urge passes.
Drink water: Drinking water is a healthy alternative to sticking a cigarette in your mouth.
Do something else to distract yourself: Take a shower, read, go for a walk, listen to music!

There are many resources within your own community. Find out if your healthcare providers, Quit line Counsellors, mCessation programmes are available to support you in your journey to quit.

Q&A Smoking and COVID-19

How to quit tobacco smoking? +

This self-help material was developed based on WHO Capacity Building Training Package 4 entitled “Strengthening health systems for treating tobacco dependence in primary care”. Its target audience are tobacco users. It aims to give advice and information to improve tobacco user’ readiness to quit and to help those who are ready to quit to plan a quit attempt. The content of this self-help material includes:

How to get ready to quit (for tobacco users not ready to quit);
How to plan and make quit attempts (for tobacco users ready to quit);
Local tobacco cessation support resources.

Access document More Documents

Florence, WHO's digital health worker

WhatsApp Quit Challenge

Quitting Toolkit

How to quit e-cigarettes?

Quit tobacco to be a winner

Health benefits of smoking cessation

More than 100 reasons to quit tobacco

The benefits of quitting tobacco are almost immediate. After just 20 minutes of quitting smoking, your heart rate drops. Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. Within 2-12 weeks, your circulation improves and lung function increases. Within 1-9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Within 5-15 years, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker. Within 10 years, your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker. Within 15 years, your risk of heart disease is that of a non-smoker. If that’s not enough here are a few more reasons!

more than 100 reasons to quit