World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day 2024
Theme – Protecting children from tobacco industry interference
The World Health Organization (WHO) designates 31st May of each year as the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). The theme of WNTD 2024 is “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference”, calling for the tobacco industry to stop targeting at youth with tobacco products.
Tobacco kills half of its users. Recruiting new young smokers is an important strategy of the tobacco industry to replace the millions of smokers who die or quit smoking every year, and to maintain profits. The tobacco industry continually develops new smoking products that appeal to youth and reduce harm perceptions of smoking, such as electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, flavoured cigarettes, “light” or “mild” cigarettes, and cigarette filters. Electronic cigarettes, in particular, have gained popularity in youth around the globe swiftly with at least 16,000 flavours and stylish design. Besides, the tobacco industry interferes with tobacco control policies, undermining efforts of governments in protecting public health from harms of smoking. The latest Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index revealed that the tobacco industry has intensified its interference in tobacco control policies by persuading policy makers to take regressive steps in tobacco control, lobbying non-health departments (especially finance and economy departments), interferes to delay, revoke or undermine tobacco control laws, and promoting a positive image and approach to senior officials through corporate social responsibility activities.
WNTD 2024 provides a platform for young people, policy makers and tobacco control advocates to discuss tobacco industry interference, and to urge governments to protect young people from the manipulative practices of the tobacco and related industries. The WHO launched the “Stop the lies” campaign to amplify youth voices, expose tobacco industry tactics, counter misinformation by the tobacco industry, and urge governments to protect health policy making from the tobacco industry interference.
Please visit the WHO website for more information of WNTD 2024.
The themes of WNTD in recent years: