World No Tobacco Day 2020: Key messages
Jose Luis Vazquez Martinez
- 6 May 2020
Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use
Key messages:
- →Tobacco products kill more than 8 million people every year. Tobacco and related industries must continuously find new consumers to replace the ones that their products are killing to maintain revenue.
- →Tobacco companies spent over 8 billion in marketing and advertising and the world lost 8 million lives from causes related to tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke.
- →Tobacco and related industries’ tactics to market to children and adolescents include:
- -Over 15,000 flavours, most of which attract children and adolescents
- -Social media influencers and marketing
- -Sponsored events and parties
- -School scholarships
- -Sleek, sexy designs
- -Product placement in entertainment media
- -Free product samples
- -Single stick cigarettes make addiction more affordable
- -Selling products at eye level for children
- -Product placement and advertising near schools
- →We want to create a generation that is free from tobacco and second-hand smoke and the death and disease that they cause.
- →Break free from the tobacco and related industries’ manipulation by becoming educated on their tactics and the harm caused by their products.
- →Tobacco use is responsible for 25% of all cancer deaths globally. Use of nicotine and tobacco products increases the risk of cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.
- →Over 1 million people die from second-hand smoke exposure every year.
- →Children and adolescents who use e-cigarettes at least double their chance of smoking cigarettes later in life.
- →E-cigarette use increases your risk of heart disease and lung disorders.
- →Nicotine in e-cigarettes is a highly addictive drug and can damage children’s developing brains.
- →Smoking shisha is just as harmful as other forms of tobacco use.
- →Smokeless doesn’t mean that it’s harmless.
- →Smoking is expensive, and you pay for it with your looks and your health. It causes bad breath, yellow teeth, wrinkly skin, unhealthy lungs and a poor immune system.
- →Shisha smoke is toxic. It contains substances that cause cancer.
- →Chewing tobacco can cause mouth cancer, tooth loss, brown teeth, white patches and gum disease.
- →We encourage everyone to become educated, spread awareness and create a tobacco-free generation.
- →Tobacco companies bombard children and adolescents with social media messages that were viewed over 25 billion times. That kind of social media reach is to die for.
Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/world-no-tobacco-day/world-no-tobacco-day-2020/key-messages