- NEW DELHI — Urgent
action is needed to ban flavoured tobacco, nicotine products that are
increasingly being disguised as safer alternatives and deliberately targeted at
children and adolescents, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday,
ahead of World No Tobacco Day.
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- World No Tobacco Day is observed every year on May 31. The
theme this year "Bright products. Dark intentions. Unmasking the
Appeal" sheds light on the concealed risks of tobacco products that are
made to look attractive through enticing flavours, eye-catching packaging,
influencer endorsements on social media, and misleading health claims.
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- The WHO called on governments to urgently ban all flavours
in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs, and
e-cigarettes, to protect youth from addiction and disease.
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- The products also include menthol, bubble gum, and cotton
candy which mask the harshness of tobacco and nicotine products turning toxic
products into youth-friendly bait.
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- These not only make it harder to quit tobacco but have also
been linked to serious lung diseases.
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- “Flavours are fuelling a new wave of addiction, and should
be banned. They undermine decades of progress in tobacco control,” said Dr
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
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- Flavoured tobacco is currently banned in over 50 countries,
and more than 40 countries have also banned e-cigarette sales. While five
nations specifically ban disposables, 7 ban e-cigarette flavours. Yet,
flavoured accessories remain largely unregulated.
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- Saima Wazed, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia said
an estimated 11 million adolescents aged 13-15 years are already addicted to
tobacco products in the region -- nearly 30 per cent of the global total in
this age group.
