The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Thursday about the “alarming use” of e-cigarettes by children and young people, calling for “urgent action” to control consumption to minimize health damage.
“Firm and decisive action is needed to prevent the spread of e-cigarettes, based on growing evidence of their use and health harms among children and adolescents,” warns WHO in the report “E-Cigarettes Call to Action.”
The report warns that e-cigarettes as a consumer product “have not been proven to be effective in smoking cessation” and that instead, “alarming evidence of adverse health effects has emerged.”
According to WHO, adolescents aged 13 to 15 years use e-cigarettes more often than adults in all WHO regions. In Canada, consumption among young people aged 16 to 19 doubled between 2017 and 2022, and in the United Kingdom, the number of young consumers has tripled over the past three years.
WHO stresses that e-cigarettes are legal on the free market and are being “aggressively” marketed to young people. “Children are introduced to e-cigarettes from an early age and can become addicted to nicotine,” warns WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted in a statement calling on countries to take “strict measures to prevent adherence and protect their citizens, especially their children and youth.”
WHO points out the need for countries that ban the sale of e-cigarettes to strengthen enforcement of the ban and calls on countries that allow their commercialization to ensure strict rules to reduce consumption, including banning all flavors, limiting the strength and quality of nicotine, and taxation. their.
WHO director of health promotion Rüdiger Krech says e-cigarettes are “targeting children through social media and influencers, offering at least 16,000 flavors.”
“Some of these products use cartoon characters and their elegant ‘design’ attracts the younger generation,” says Rüdiger Krech, quoted in the statement, warning of “an alarming increase in the use of e-cigarettes among children and young people, with rates higher in many countries than in adults.”
The WHO warns that e-cigarettes containing nicotine are “highly addictive and harmful to health. Although the long-term health effects are not fully understood, they do release toxic substances, some of which are known to cause cancer and others which increase the risk of heart and lung disease.”
Its consumption can also affect brain development and lead to learning disabilities in young people. To stop this situation, WHO states that “urgent action is needed to prevent e-cigarette use and combat nicotine addiction, as well as a comprehensive approach to tobacco control tailored to national circumstances.”
“Smoking cessation strategies should be based on the best available evidence of effectiveness, accompanied by other tobacco control measures, and subject to monitoring and evaluation. Based on current evidence, governments are not recommended to allow the sale of e-cigarettes as consumer products to promote smoking cessation,” says WHO.
The UN agency accuses the tobacco industry of profiting from “health destruction” and “using these new products to gain a seat at the political decision-making table to ‘lobby’ against health policy.”
“The tobacco industry funds and promotes false evidence to claim that these products reduce harm, while actively marketing these products to children and non-smokers and continuing to sell billions of cigarettes,” criticizes the WHO.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.