Tobacco products continue to kill eight million people a year who
get hooked via a $9 billion a year marketing strategy. That’s the
warning from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday,
which has said that even during a global pandemic, the tobacco
and nicotine industry has continued to promote products that
limit people’s ability to fight new coronavirus and recover from
the disease.
For this year’s World No Tobacco
Day – marked on 31 May – the agency is focusing on
protecting teenagers, who are a key target sector. More than 40
million young people today aged 13-15, have already started to
use tobacco, it estimates.
Smoking suffocates the lungs and other organs, starving them of
the oxygen they need to develop and function properly,
the WHO warned in a
statement.
“Educating youth is vital because nearly nine out of 10 smokers
start before age 18. We want to provide young people with the
knowledge to speak out against tobacco industry manipulation”,
said Ruediger Krech, Director for Health Promotion at WHO.
In a bid to help prevent addiction among 13-17-year-olds, the
agency has highlighted commonly used tactics to watch out for.
E-cigarettes are harmful
It points out that smoking e-cigarettes and hookah pipes –
marketed as “safer” alternatives to conventional cigarettes - is
harmful, addictive, and increases the risk of developing heart
and lung disease.
The WHO also notes that most of the 15,000 flavours on offer –
such as bubble-gum and candy - are there to attract youngsters
who at least double their chance of smoking cigarettes later in
life.
Other marketing strategies during the COVID-19 have included
the offer of free branded masks and a home delivery service
during quarantine.
The tobacco industry has also lobbied for its products to be
listed as “essential”, the health agency noted.
And in its call to all sectors, including film studios, to keep
children and young people out of the industry’s reach, the WHO
points out that the streamed hit youth series, Stranger Things,
has almost twice the number of tobacco product placements (182)
than cult tv show, The Walking Dead.
#TobaccoExposed quiz
To reach more young people and amplify its message, WHO has also
launched the #TobaccoExposed challenge on popular youth online
platform TikTok, and welcomed social media partnerships with
other platforms including Pinterest and YouTube.
WHO has also launched a classroom activities kit that puts the
students in the shoes of the tobacco industry to make them aware
of how the industry tries to manipulate them into using their
products.
For more information on where to find the school kit, go
to who.int and
search for World No Tobacco Day.