Global progress in tobacco control threatened by new nicotine products

A new report published by the World Health Organization (WHO)[1] notes that countries have made significant progress in combating the tobacco epidemic. However, this progress is threatened by continued interference from the tobacco industry and its efforts to introduce new nicotine products, which many countries are failing to regulate effectively.

At the same time, the report notes that major tobacco companies, such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, have exploited the global COVID pandemic to aggressively market tobacco and nicotine products to young people around the world.

More and more countries are adopting effective tobacco control measures

Worldwide, 5.3 billion people are now protected by at least one WHO-recommended tobacco control measure (MPOWER), i.e. 5 times more than in 2007. Nearly 100 countries, or half of the world's population, are covered by at least two of these measures.

These six measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCCLAT) included in MPOWER aim to reduce tobacco consumption through effective interventions by: monitoring tobacco consumption, protecting the population from second-hand smoke, providing assistance to those who want to quit smoking, warning of the dangers of smoking, enforcing the ban on all tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, and increasing taxes on tobacco products.

As of 2020, 49 countries had yet to adopt a single MPOWER measure, leaving 2.4 billion people directly vulnerable to tobacco industry tactics and marketing.

The adoption of various measures is occurring at different rates across countries. The WHO emphasizes the importance of banning all tobacco advertising, sponsorship, and promotion, providing cessation support, and steadily and significantly increasing tobacco taxes. A recent report by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) demonstrated that effective tobacco tax policies in five Asian countries could have saved 1.3 million lives.[2].

Progress threatened by the marketing of new nicotine products

As sales of manufactured cigarettes continue to decline, tobacco companies are aggressively marketing new products—e-cigarettes, heated/grilled tobacco, and nicotine pouches—pressing governments to limit their regulation.

The tobacco industry justifies the sale of these new products as "safer alternatives" to smoked tobacco, or even as quitting aids (which has not been proven), with the sole objective of continuing its profits by recruiting new consumers by getting young people addicted to nicotine. In this regard, the WHO denounces the marketing of these tobacco companies targeted at young people, particularly by using a wide variety of flavors: approximately 16,000 flavors are offered on the various e-cigarette markets. US studies confirm that flavors play a major role in the initiation and then regular use of e-cigarettes by adolescents. The WHO points out that nicotine consumption by children and adolescents increases their risk of subsequently using tobacco products.

New products that must be included in a comprehensive approach to tobacco control

The WHO emphasizes the significant addictive power of nicotine, particularly among children and adolescents, which justifies protecting young people from the use of e-cigarettes in the same way as they do from tobacco products. Moreover, manufacturers use the same strategies to target young people, whether it's e-cigarettes or tobacco products. Restrictions on all these nicotine-containing products must be identical.

The "denormalization" of smoking implemented in recent years is beginning to bear fruit, making tobacco consumption less commonplace and acceptable. In response, the promotion of these new products aims to renormalize nicotine consumption by and among young people and in places where smoking is prohibited.[3].

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[1] WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2021: addressing new and emerging products. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

[2] Tobacco Free Generation, Southeast Asia: Effective tobacco tax policies could have saved 1.3 million lives, July 26, 2021, accessed July 28, 2021

[3] Tobacco Free Generation, RJ Reynolds' Marketing Strategies to Promote Snus in the United States, February 17, 2021, accessed July 28, 2021