WHO urges immediate action to ban flavoured tobacco and nicotine products
WHO urges immediate action to ban flavoured tobacco and nicotine products
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an urgent global ban on all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs, and e-cigarettes, to protect youth from addiction and disease, the Organization’s website reported.
On World No Tobacco Day 2025, WHO highlighted how flavours like menthol, bubble gum, and cotton candy mask the harshness of these products, making them more appealing to young people and harder to quit. Flavoured tobacco products contribute to the global tobacco epidemic, which causes around 8 million deaths annually.
Currently, over 50 countries ban flavoured tobacco products, while more than 40 countries prohibit e-cigarette sales. However, flavour accessories such as capsule filters remain largely unregulated. Countries like Belgium, Denmark, and Lithuania have taken steps to restrict these products, and WHO urges others to follow suit.
WHO emphasized that tobacco products expose users to cancer-causing chemicals and called for strict regulation to prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine through flavoured products.
