The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director, Matshidiso Moeti, has called for a complete ban on public smoking and the use of e-cigarettes and vaping in every African country. This was contained in a statement issued by the organisation on Friday to mark 2024 World No Tobacco Day, which is themed: “Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference.” Mrs Moeti said African countries need to implement stringent measures to protect children from the usage of tobacco and nicotine products.
According to her, the tobacco industry is designing marketing strategies that are targeted at attracting the younger generation to smoking and nicotine addiction. “As tobacco use continues to decline among adults, the tobacco industry has diversified its arsenal to attack and subvert any strong tobacco control efforts and has been trying to grow its portfolio, adding new markets for tobacco and nicotine products. The industry uses marketing strategies for new products specially designed to appeal to youth,” she said.
Some of these products are e-cigarettes, flavoured products, smokeless tobacco, snacks, and pouches. She noted that they are aggressively promoted through social media. “This shows that more efforts are still needed to stop the tobacco industry’s relentless efforts to market its products to young people.
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