The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The UN health agency announced today (16 January) at the launch of the latest Global tobacco trends report that the total number of adult tobacco users worldwide has decreased.
“The good news is that we have 1.25 billion people still smoking. That is the last figure we have from the Global trends report that we're releasing today,” said Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO) during the report launch at the UN in Geneva. “But that also means that we have 19 million less smokers than we had two years ago. That is the first time that we see such a decline.”
This trend shows a continued decline in tobacco use rates globally, with about one in five adults worldwide consuming tobacco in 2022, down from one in three in 2000.
Currently, the fastest decreases in tobacco use are happening in the lower middle-income group of countries whereas the highest prevalence of tobacco users is in the WHO South-East Asian region, however with fast falling rates.
The WHO region which currently has the lowest tobacco use prevalence is the African Region, which has already decreased from an average of 18 per cent in 2000 to under 10 per cent in 2022.
According to Dr. Krech, “the region that is a bit of a problem is the European region where especially women are […] on the increase in some parts, in some countries, or at very high levels still of tobacco users.”
WHO urges countries to continue putting in place tobacco control policies and continue to fight against tobacco industry interference.
The report estimates that there are at least 37 million children aged 13-15 currently using some form of tobacco, and many countries have found alarming levels of e-cigarette use among adolescents as well. There is a clear need for policies that restrict advertising to young people, restrict access and reduce exposure to tobacco and nicotine products.
“There's a few countries who have banned e-cigarettes, which we welcome,” said Dr. Krech. “If you have not banned it, you should take very strong regulatory measures, meaning that you need to ensure that children do not get access to e-cigarettes.”
He added that “children as young as eight years old […] actually use e-cigarettes or vape. This is, I believe, criminal, but they do. And in many countries these use of e-cigarettes and vaping are not yet regulated.”
Dr. Krech mentioned that “we have teachers calling us, especially in the UK, where you saw a 150 per cent increase in the last three years of uptake of e-cigarettes by children. So, they call us to say children cannot stay a whole 45-minute lesson anymore because they need to step out to get e-cigarettes.”
Since most of the e-cigarettes and vapes are purchased through internet, it would be important, according to the WHO, to ensure that these devices are no longer available to children.
All the different kind of flavors offered for vaping are more attractive to children and less to older adults. “You have thousands of flavors, each of these flavors contain different chemicals,” said WHO’s Dr. Krech. “So the toxicity of these liquids, if you inhale them, if you're not swallowing them, but you inhale them, is completely different. So, the tactics of the tobacco industry is to swamp the market.”
For those who use vaping to quit smoking, it should be regulated as medicine where you get it through a pharmacy with a prescription for it, said Dr. Krech.
-ends-
STORY: WHO Global tobacco trends report
TRT: 3:13”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 16 January 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: speakers at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “The good news is that we have 1.25 billion people still smoking. That is the last figure we have from the Global trends report that we're releasing today. But that also means that we have 19 million less smokers than we had two years ago. That is the first time that we see such a decline.”
- Wide shot: press room with journalists and speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “There's a few countries who have banned e-cigarettes, which we welcome. If you have not banned it, you should take very strong regulatory measures, meaning that you need to ensure that children do not get access to e-cigarettes.”
- Medium shot: press room with journalists and speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “We have seen this for instance in what they call novel products on e-cigarettes and vaping, where they actually try to get our children as young as eight years old to actually use e-cigarettes or vapers. This is, I believe, criminal, but they do. And in many countries these use of e-cigarettes and vaping are not yet regulated.”
- Medium shot: press room with journalists
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “The region that is a bit of a problem is the European region where especially women are, you know, on the increase in some parts, in some countries, or at very high levels still of tobacco users.”
- Wide shot: press room with journalists and speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “I find this and I'm not understandable how you could do this, as you know, that you're hooking children to nicotine, which is highly addictive. So, we have teachers calling us, especially in the U.K., where you saw a 150 per cent increase in the last three years of uptake of e-cigarettes by children. So they call us to say children cannot stay a whole 45 minute lesson anymore because they need to step out to get, you know, e-cigarettes.”
- Wide shot: Camera people with conferencing staff
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion WHO: “You have thousands of flavors. Each of these flavors contain different chemicals. So the toxicity of these liquids, if you inhale them, if you're not swallowing them, but you inhale them, is completely different. So the tactics of the tobacco industry is to swamp the market.”
- Wide shot: press briefing room with journalists
- Wide shot: press briefing room with journalists and speakers at the podium
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
Dangers grow for Myanmar earthquake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed' - UNDP
In earthquake-shattered central Myanmar people are sleeping in the streets in fear of buildings collapsing, facing early monsoon rains and the risk of waterborne diseases, the UN Development Programme warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , OHCHR , UNHCR
Myanmar’s military has continued to launch airstrikes and other attacks against opposition forces in the devastated country, one week since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck and despite announcing a ceasefire, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif on Tuesday presented a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, detailing the continued violations of human rights as a result of the offensive launched by the Rwandan-backed M23 in eastern DRC.