‘Same nicotine with a different packaging,’ WHO head says
May 23, 2024
Tobacco companies still actively target young people via social media, sports and music festivals and new, flavoured products, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, accusing companies of trying to hook a new generation on nicotine.
Amid ever-stricter regulation targeting cigarettes, big tobacco companies and new entrants have begun offering smoking alternatives such as vapes, which they say are aimed at adult smokers.
But the WHO said these products’ are often marketed to youth, their design and variety of fruity flavours appeals to children, and that young people are more likely to use the products than adults around the world.
“History is repeating itself, but in a different form. The same nicotine with a different packaging,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general.
The industry says it is working to reduce the harm from smoking, but Tedros rejected this claim.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/smoking-vaping-who-1.7212339