Tobacco industry is taking advantage of global pandemic, says WHO

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
• Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)

Smoking, an addition that is killing kids and teens 6:39

(CNN) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the tobacco and nicotine industries worldwide to stop taking advantage of the global coronavirus pandemic and doing direct marketing for children and adolescents.

During a briefing on Thursday, Ruediger Krech, WHO's director of Health Promotion, said more than 40 million teens have already started using tobacco worldwide.

• Six questions and answers about smoking in times of covid-19, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day

"We have made great progress ... but we have also had some setbacks. If we are not careful, we may lose ground in tobacco control as the industry persists and seeks to hook a new younger generation into its products, ”said Krech.

Every year on May 31, WHO celebrates World No Tobacco Day to raise awareness of the deadly effects of smoking.

This year is different: Krech says the tobacco industry is taking advantage of the global covid-19 pandemic. “We see hundreds of thousands of people, smokers, who want to quit smoking during this crisis. There is a great acceptance of the programs to stop smoking and they demand that we support people to stop doing it ”.

Countries like Mexico, India, Jordan, Indonesia, and China, along with parts of central and eastern Europe, have seen an increase in people quitting during the pandemic.

"We are now looking for new technology solutions that are available to help those who want to quit smoking," said Vinayak Prasad, coordinator of the WHO Non-Tobacco Unit.

• OPINION Why might covid-19 make you rethink your smoking habits?

The tobacco industry is also using the covid-19 pandemic for commercialization, wearing face masks with their logos, donating fans, and organizing legal battles with countries to make their products essential.

"The industry is using all kinds of arguments in terms of essentiality, in terms of saying that smokers are victims and have no access," said Prasad.

Prasad said the tobacco industry is fighting an uphill battle, spending $ 1 million an hour globally. “They are doing it to find replacement users. Eight million premature deaths each year, so they need to find new replacements. "

• Smokers, former smokers have almost twice the risk of severe covid-19, study finds

The WHO is launching a kit targeted at teens to "alert them to tobacco industry tactics used to hook them into addictive products," a statement said.

“The toolkit exposes tactics such as parties and concerts hosted by the tobacco and related industries, flavors of e-cigarettes that appeal to young people like gum and candy, e-cigarette reps performing in schools, and the placement of products on popular youth broadcast programs, ”said Prasad.

Adriana Blanco Marquizo of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control said it is important to arm younger people to fight tactics.

"Teens and youth can have the power to protect themselves when they understand the intent of this industry, an industry that really wants them hooked on addictive behavior, just to maintain profits, even if this goes against public health," said.

World No Tobacco Day OMST