World No Tobacco Day 2024

Protecting children from tobacco industry interference

World No Tobacco Day 2024 will give a platform to young people across the world, who are calling for the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with products that are harmful to their health. Young people globally are calling on governments to adopt policies that shield them from the manipulative practices of tobacco and related industries, including the relentless marketing of their dangerous products through social media and streaming platforms.

Key facts

There are 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide. Tobacco kills around 8 million people every year (more than 7 million active smokers and over 1 million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke), including 1 million in the Americas. The life expectancy of smokers is at least ten years less than that of non-smokers.

Tobacco is the only legal consumer product that kills up to half of its users when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer. Tobacco companies spent over 8 billion dollars on marketing and advertising.

Children and adolescents who use e-cigarettes at least double their chance of smoking cigarettes later in life.

Message by Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director

CALLS TO ACTION

YOUTH

Young people around the world recognize the industry’s negative impact on issues they care about: physical and mental health, sustainability, plastics pollution, environmental devastation and climate change, child labour, poverty and inequity.

Youth groups around the world can urge their governments to implement measures to prevent tobacco use and nicotine addiction.

They can call for tobacco corporations to be held accountable and financially liable for past, present and future harms caused by their activities.

GOVERNMENT

Governments should implement the WHO FCTC, including:

implementing and enforcing comprehensive TAPS bans and the specific guidelines to address cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and the depiction of tobacco in entertainment media for implementation of Article 13, adopted at COP 10 in February 2024;
raising prices and taxes on tobacco and nicotine products to make them less affordable;
banning sales of these products to children; and
implementing Article 5.3 to protect policy from industry influence.

Governments should take action against products and marketing that clearly appeal to youth.

Governments should hold the tobacco and related industries accountable, including imposing financial penalties, for:

breaches of national TAPS laws;
the harm they cause to health and the environment;
the health, environmental and economic costs associated with the production, marketing and use of the industry’s products; and
their deceptive marketing and other corporate practices that undermine public health and environmental policies.