World No Tobacco Day on Sunday 31 May focuses attention on how the tobacco and nicotine industries design their products to appeal to young people and encourage addiction.
The annual campaign, led by the World Health Organization, highlights how 40 million adolescents (aged 13-15) use tobacco, 15 million use e-cigarettes and, in countries with available data, adolescents are 9 times more likely to vape than adults.
Extensive World No Tobacco Day campaign material is available online in multiple languages.
This year’s theme is “Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction”. The campaign aims to:
- Raise awareness of how the tobacco and nicotine industry changes products to make them more addictive and more appealing
- Advocate for stronger laws to protect young people, including limits on flavours, advertising, packaging and product design
- Give young people clear information and access to help them quit.
Resources are also available for schools and communities to help them adopt tobacco- and nicotine-free environments. These include practical guides, communication tools and examples of successful programs implemented around the world.
Despite decades of public health efforts, tobacco use remains one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide, responsible for more than 8 million deaths every year.