WHO calls for urgent action to ban flavoured tobacco, nicotine products
On World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) today launched a new publication and calls 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.
Flavours like menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy are masking the harshness of tobacco and nicotine products turning toxic products into youth-friendly bait. Flavours not only make it harder to quit but have also been linked to serious lung diseases. Cigarettes, which still kill up to half of their users, also come in flavours or can have flavours added to them.
'Flavours are fuelling a new wave of addiction, and should be banned,' said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. 'They undermine decades of progress in tobacco control. Without bold action, the global tobacco epidemic, already killing around 8 million people each year, will continue to be driven by addiction dressed up with appealing flavours.'
The publication, Flavour accessories in tobacco products enhance attractiveness and appeal, reveals how flavours and accessories like capsule filters and click-on drops are marketed to bypass regulations and hook new users.
Currently, over 50 countries ban flavoured tobacco; more than 40 countries ban e-cigarette sales; 5 specifically ban disposables and 7 ban e-cigarette flavours; and flavour accessories remain largely unregulated.
Flavours are a leading reason why young people try tobacco and nicotine products. Paired with flashy packaging and social media-driven marketing, they've increased the appeal of nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, and disposable vapes into addictive and harmful products, which aggressively target young people.
WHO reiterates that tobacco products, including heated tobacco products, expose users to cancer-causing chemicals and should be strictly regulated.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
7 hours ago
- Al Etihad
World Central Kitchen resumes cooking meals for Gazans after 12 weeks
22 June 2025 21:33 Allan Jacob (ABU DHABI)Food charity World Central Kitchen has resumed cooking for starving Gazans affected by relentless attacks and displacement by Israeli armed forces in the charity said almost 10,000 meals were cooked on the first day after it resume cooking 12 weeks after the wave of attacks amid depleted food supplies. "As of today, we have resumed cooking at select kitchens, a critical step toward increasing meal production to meet the urgent need of displaced Palestinians," said World Central Kitchen in a statement. Teams from the charity are now preparing nourishing and warm carb-rich meals such as pasta and hearty potato stews. On May 7, the charity was forced to halt cooking across all its large kitchens and its mobile bakery after food supplies ran out. "This pause marked a devastating moment in our response, cutting off a vital source of daily nourishment for families already facing extreme hardship," it that aid shipments are trickling in after Israel eased some measures, the charity said cooking again for the affected people in enclave was an important milestone. It, however, said that the effects of prolonged hunger do not disappear overnight. Hunger leaves deep physical and psychological scars-and even as meals begin again, the damage caused by extended access disruptions continues to impact families and communities."We are grateful to once again cook for the people of Gaza-but our continued ability to do so is not guaranteed. Consistent and sustained humanitarian access is essential. Our teams stand ready to scale efforts. Without it, feeding communities safely and effectively is impossible," charity said. In the food crisis engulfing Gaza, the charity sought to find sustainable fuel sources. It began using innovative, fuel-efficient stoves that eliminate the need for traditional fuels or electricity, which have been limited since October 2024. This breakthrough allowed the team to initially utilise eco-pellets, it said. But the pellets too became scarce as Israel choked entry points into the enclave. Wooden pallets were the option and were mixed with what was left of the remaining eco pellets to keep cooking fires burning. The charity also tried olive husk, which is a plentiful in the region and is a by-product of olive oil. However, using it comes with its own set of challenges. Raw olive husk creates a lot of smoke, so it needs to be compressed into briquettes. Sourcing and processing the olive husk also requires complex logistics, the charity said. But despite facing these odds the Kitchen, which began operations in Gaza in October 2023, has served more than 133 million meals to people of the area. According to the World Health Organisation, the entire 2.1 million population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. Founded by Jose Andres in 2010, the World Central Kitchen has served over 300 million meals to communities affected by violence and natural disasters across the world.
Zawya
3 days ago
- Zawya
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to hold regional youth conference in Senegal from the 1st to 3rd of July, 2025
From the 1st to 3rd of July 2025, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be holding its Regional Youth Forum in Saly Portudal, Senegal, under the theme: 'Engaging ECOWAS for a new vision of youth'. This high-level meeting will bring together young leaders, representatives of youth organisations, political decision-makers and regional and international experts. It will provide an inclusive platform for dialogue on the challenges and opportunities facing young people in the ECOWAS region, particularly in the areas of employment, entrepreneurship, education and vocational training. The conference is part of the celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of ECOWAS, and marks an essential stage in the regional organisation's determination to strengthen the active participation of young people in building a peaceful, integrated and prosperous West Africa. They illustrate the ambition to forge a new regional vision, placing young people at the heart of social, economic and political transformation. The main objective of this initiative is to create a space for direct dialogue between young people and ECOWAS, in order to harmonise points of view on the issues faced by young people in the region, and to co-construct concrete solutions to encourage their socio-economic development and civic participation. The Saly meeting is the culmination of a series of pilot national consultations organised in several West African capitals, including Cotonou (Benin), Accra (Ghana), Yamoussoukro (Côte d'Ivoire) and Dakar (Senegal). These consultations laid the foundations for a participatory and regional process, of which the regional meetings are the concrete expression. Through this initiative, ECOWAS is reaffirming its commitment to developing innovative strategies and defining shared priorities to strengthen the involvement of young people in local, national and regional governance. This conference reflects this vision, considering young people not only as beneficiaries, but also as key players in the development of the region. Organised under the coordination of the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC), the conclusions of this conference will feed into the development of a strategic roadmap, in line with ECOWAS Vision 2050, and will lay the foundations for a new regional policy dedicated to youth. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Middle East Eye
3 days ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel demands condemnation from World Health Organisation after hospital strike
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Iran's supreme leader "can no longer be allowed to exist" after a hospital in Israel was hit by an Iranian missile on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would "pay a heavy price" for the strike. Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba was left in flames by a bombardment that Iran said was intended to target a military and intelligence base. Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, demanded a condemnation from the UN in a video on X filmed outside the World Health Organisation's headquarters. Israel has repeatedly bombed healthcare facilities in Gaza, which include 36 hospitals. WHO said that at least 94 percent of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed.
