WHO / WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY

Marking the World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) launches a new publication and calls on governments to urgently ban all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs and e-cigarettes to protect youth from addiction and disease. WHO

• Video Length: 00:02:13
• Production Date: 29 May 2025
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: TOBACCO CONTROL; HEALTH
• Geographic Subject: SWITZERLAND
• MAMS Id: 3402044
• Parent Id: 3402044
• Alternate Title: unifeed250529c

Description

STORY: WHO / WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY
TRT: 2:13
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 MAY 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters
2. Soundbite (English) Rudiger Krech, Director, Health Promotion, WHO:
“The tobacco industry is never part of the solution. They're always the problem.”
3. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rüdiger Krech, Director, Health Promotion, WHO:
“From flavours to bright colours and flashy designs, tobacco, nicotine and other products are designed to lure people, and especially young people, into a cycle of addiction and to sustain current users. These products are addictive, toxic and harmful.”
5. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rüdiger Krech, Director, Health Promotion, WHO:
“Well, WHO is leading the global fight back, calling out the tobacco industry and exposing them through global campaigns to alert policy makers, communities and families. WHO has called on all countries to implement the MPOWER package of proven policies that protect people from second-hand smoke, offer help to quit, warn about the dangers of tobacco, ban advertising and raise taxes.”
7. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rüdiger Krech, Director, Health Promotion, WHO:
“Member States who have signed up to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. They've also signed up that policymaking in tobacco control should be free from any industry interference.”
9. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rüdiger Krech, Director, Health Promotion, WHO:
“This world no tobacco day, WHO issues a clear call to action. Ban all flavors in tobacco, nicotine, and related products. Prohibit all advertising, promotions and sponsorships, especially across social media, and implement plain packaging. So altogether, let's strip away the glamour and expose the dangers of tobacco.”

11. Wide shot, WHO Headquarters

Storyline

Marking the World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) launches a new publication and calls on governments to urgently ban all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs and e-cigarettes to protect youth from addiction and disease.

Flavours like menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy are masking the harshness of tobacco andnicotine products turning toxic products into youth-friendly bait. Flavours not only make it harder to quit but have also been linked to serious lung diseases. Cigarettes, which still kill up to half of their users, also come in flavours or can have flavours added to them.

“Flavours are fuelling a new wave of addiction, and should be banned,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “They undermine decades of progress in tobacco control. Without bold action, the global tobacco epidemic, already killing around 8 million people each year, will continue to be driven by addiction dressed up with appealing flavours.”

The publication: “Flavour accessories in tobacco products enhance attractiveness and appeal”reveal how flavours and accessories like capsule filters and click-on drops are marketed to bypass regulations and hook new users.

Currently:
• Over 50 countries ban flavoured tobacco.
• More than 40 countries ban e-cigarette sales; 5 specifically ban disposables and 7 ban e-cigarette flavours.
• Flavour accessories remain largely unregulated.

Countries such as Belgium, Denmark, and Lithuania are taking action, and WHO urges others to follow.

Flavours are a leading reason why young people try tobacco and nicotine products. Paired with flashy packaging and social media-driven marketing, they’ve increased the appeal of nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, and disposable vapes into addictive and harmful products, which aggressively target young people.

“We are watching a generation get hooked on nicotine through gummy bear-flavoured pouches and rainbow-coloured vapes,” said Dr Rüdiger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion. “This isn’t innovation, it’s manipulation. And we must stop it.”

WHO reiterates that tobacco products, including heated tobacco products expose users to cancer-causing chemicals and should be strictly regulated.

The 2025 World No Tobacco Day campaign honours governments, youth activists, and civil society leaders pushing back against industry interference. “Your actions are changing policy and saving lives,” said Dr Krech.

With around 8 million tobacco-related deaths each year, the time for action is now. Flavours, and the industries that deploy them, have no place in a healthy future.