01/06/2020
FYI
Ugwunna Nwachukwu
Secretary General APHPN
World No To***co Day
Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from to***co and ni****ne use
Date: 31 May 2020
Every year, on 31 May, WHO and partners mark World No To***co Day (WNTD), highlighting the health and other risks associated with to***co use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce to***co consumption.
The focus of World No To***co Day 2018 is "To***co and heart disease." The campaign will increase awareness on the:
link between to***co and heart and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including stroke, which combined are the world’s leading causes of death;
feasible actions and measures that key audiences, including governments and the public, can take to reduce the risks to heart health posed by to***co.
World No To***co Day 2018 coincides with a range of global initiatives and opportunities aimed at addressing the to***co epidemic and its impact of public health, particularly in causing the death and suffering of millions of people globally. These actions include the WHO-supported Global Hearts and RESOLVE initiatives, which aim to reduce cardiovascular disease deaths and improve care, and the third United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs , being held in 2018.
How to***co endangers the heart health of people worldwide
World No To***co Day 2018 will focus on the impact to***co has on the cardiovascular health of people worldwide.
To***co use is an important risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.
Despite the known harms of to***co to heart health, and the availability of solutions to reduce related death and disease, knowledge among large sections of the public that to***co is one of the leading causes of CVD is low.
***coExposed
The global campaign will debunk myths and expose devious tactics employed by these industries. It will provide young people with the knowledge required to easily detect industry manipulation and equip them with the tools to rebuff such tactics, thereby empowering young people to stand up against them. This is especially important right now as studies show that smokers have a higher risk for a severe case of coronavirus. WHO calls on all young people to join the fight to become a to***co-free generation
Key facts
To***co kills up to half of its users.
To***co kills more than 8 million people each year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct to***co use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
Around 80% of the world's 1.3 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
World No To***co Day – 31 May 2020
31 May 2020
Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from to***co and ni****ne use
For decades, the to***co industry has deliberately employed strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics to attract youth to to***co and ni****ne products. Internal industry documents reveal in-depth research and calculated approaches designed to attract a new generation of to***co users, from product design to marketing campaigns aimed at replacing the millions of people who die each year from to***co-attributable diseases with new consumers – youth.
In response to the to***co and related industries’ systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to attract a new generation of to***co users, World No To***co Day 2020 will provide a counter-marketing campaign and empower young people to engage in the fight against Big To***co.
World No To***co Day 2020
The World No To***co Day 2020 global campaign will serve to:
Debunk myths and expose manipulation tactics employed by the to***co and related industries, particularly marketing tactics targeted at youth, including through the introduction of new and novel products, flavours and other attractive features;
Equip young people with knowledge about the to***co and related industries’ intentions and tactics to hook current and future generations on to***co and ni****ne products; and
Empower influencers (in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom) to protect and defend youth and catalyze change by engaging them in the fight against Big To***co.
How are to***co and related industries manipulating youth?
Use of flavours that are attractive to youth in to***co and ni****ne products, like cherry, bubble gum and cotton candy, which encourages young people to underestimate the related health risks and to start using them
Sleek designs and attractive products, which can also be easy to carry and are deceptive (e.g. products shaped like a USB stick or candy)
Promotion of products as “reduced harm” or “cleaner” alternatives to conventional ci******es in the absence of objective science substantiating these claims
Celebrity/influencer sponsorships and brand sponsored contests to promote to***co and ni****ne products (e.g. Instagram influencers)
Point-of-sale marketing at vendor outlets frequented by children, including positioning near sweets, snacks or soda and providing premiums for vendors to ensure their products are displayed near venues frequented by young people (includes providing marketing materials and display cases to retailers)
Sale of single stick ci******es and other to***co and ni****ne products near schools, which makes it cheap and easy for school children to access to***co and ni****ne products
Indirect marketing of to***co products in movies, TV shows and online streaming shows
To***co vending machines at venues frequented by young people, covered in attractive advertising and pack displays, and undermining regulations on sales to minors
Litigation to weaken all kinds of to***co control regulations including warning labels, display at point of sale, and regulations that limit access and marketing to children (specifically provisions to ban the sale and advertising of to***co products near schools)
Call to action
The world cannot afford another generation deceived by the lies of the to***co industry, which pretends to promote freedom of personal choice while really ensuring eternal profits – regardless of the millions of people that pay with their life each year.
WHO urges influencers – in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom – who reach and connect with youth to expose the industries’ manipulative tactics to create a new generation of to***co users. We need to empower youth to stand up to Big To***co by dispelling its lies and refusing to use its products.
Make every day World No To***co Day
World No To***co Day 2018, 10 people die every minute due to smoking globally
About 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries and 226 million of them are considered poor.
Every minute, smokers get through nearly 11 million ci******es and 10 die from the habit, in an industry that generates billions of dollars.
Here are some facts and figures ahead of the UN’s World No To***co Day on Thursday.
How many people smoke?
There are around one billion smokers in the world, about a seventh of the global population, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and other estimates.
China has the highest number: From its population of 1.3 billion, about 315 million are smokers and they consume more than a third of the world’s ci******es, the WHO said in a report last year. Indonesia has the highest proportion of smokers at 76% of men aged over 15 years.
About 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries and 226 million of them are considered poor.
On the decline?
A study published in The Lancet medical journal in April 2017 says the percentage of people using to***co every day has dropped in 25 years.
One in four men and one in 20 women smoked daily in 2015, down from one in three men and one in 12 women in 1990, it found. But reductions in smoking rates in some nations “are almost entirely offset by the increasing consumption in many countries with weaker to***co control regulations,” says The To***co Atlas anti-smoking lobby.
These include poorer parts of the world, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. To***co use has decreased in places such as Australia, Brazil and Britain, where anti-smoking measures include higher taxes, bans and health warnings. Electronic ci******es have also entered some markets. France reports a million fewer daily smokers in 2017 over 2016.
To***co sales have even declined in China, down by 10% from a peak in 2012, according to the Euromonitor International market research group.
A high human cost
To***co is the leading cause of preventable death, experts say. Active or passive smoking kills more than seven million people every year, according to the WHO, with to***co consumption blamed for the death of on average one person every six seconds.
Cancers, heart attacks, strokes and lung disease are the main diseases associated with to***co. Over the 20th century to***co claimed 100 million lives - more than the 60-80 million deaths during World War II and the 18 million in World War I combined.
At current rates to***co could account for up to a billion deaths in the 21st century, the WHO says. Smoking uses up almost 6% of world spending on healthcare as well as nearly 2% of global GDP, according to a January 2017 study in the scientific journal To***co Control. This amounted to $1.436 billion globally in 2012, 40% borne by developing countries, it says.
Profits and production
Around the world 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of land is used to grow to***co, the WHO says, an area about the size of Switzerland. Cigarette sales are worth more than $680 billion annually, according to Euromonitor.
China is the leading producer of to***co, growing about 40% of the world’s leaves, says The To***co Atlas.
Five firms control 80% of the global cigarette market. The top six made a profit of more than $62 billion in 2015, it says. Smokers get through about 5.7 trillion ci******es annually, says The To***co Atlas. This works out to nearly 11 million every minute. Filters made from non-biodegradable cellulose acetate have become the type of litter most present on the world’s beaches.
