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 | UNFPA , OCHA , UNOG
UN agencies offered a dire assessment on Tuesday about the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming US administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
While West Bank camp is destroyed, UNRWA delivers bulk of aid in Gaza
Large swathes of Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have been completely destroyed following a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday raised the alarm about the growing human rights crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team James Rodehaver, describedunprecedented levels of killing in 2024, four years since the coup.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNRWA
The largest UN agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNRWA, said on Friday that its staff are still helping the people of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem who depend on them “for their sheer survival”, a day after the Israeli parliament ban on its activities entered into force.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WFP , WHO
Goma: ‘Critical’ moment for population caught in crossfire – UN humanitarians
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civilians caught up in heavy fighting face a “critical” 24 hours, with food and water running low and aid unable to enter, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
Nazi death camp survivor Ivan Lefkovits shared harrowing testimony of his experiences on Monday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a timeless message for present and future generations: “Don't be neutral, especially not towards human suffering."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it was “deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank”, as part of an ongoing Israeli military operation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ravina Shamdasani said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Aid is surging into Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO , OCHA , WMO
UN regrets US exit from global cooperation on health, climate change
UN agencies reacted with regret on Tuesday to the United States’ decisions to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.