By Job Okoth
The global tobacco war is taking a dangerous new turn. As cigarette use declines, health experts are warning that the tobacco industry has found its next target in children.
Speaking at the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Report on Trends in Tobacco Use 2000–2024, Dr. Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director-General, said the world is witnessing a shift in tactics as tobacco companies turn to e-cigarettes and social media marketing to hook a younger generation.
“The industry is fighting for its survival,” Dr. Farrar said. “They know their market is shrinking, so they are aggressively targeting adolescents — the next generation of customers. If we let up now, the progress of the past two decades will be erased.”
According to the report, an estimated 40 million adolescents aged 13 to 15 currently use tobacco, while 15 million children are already using e-cigarettes. WHO cautions that no country in the world has a zero-prevalence rate among that age group, meaning that in every region, children have access to nicotine products.
The new report shows that while overall tobacco use has fallen — from one in three adults in 2000 to fewer than one in five today — the decline is threatened by the rise of new, largely unregulated nicotine products. These include vapes, heated tobacco, and other electronic devices marketed as safer alternatives.
Alison Commar, WHO Technical Officer and lead author of the report, said the industry’s strategies have evolved to match modern media habits. “Children are being exposed daily,” she said. “It’s not direct advertising anymore — it’s influencers casually vaping, video game characters smoking, or subtle product placements that normalize nicotine use.”
Commar noted that even in countries with strong bans on tobacco advertising on TV, radio, and print, digital marketing remains almost entirely unregulated. “Any child online today is definitely seeing vape or tobacco promotion,” she said. “The industry has simply moved to where children spend most of their time — the internet.”
The WHO has urged governments to extend existing tobacco regulations to cover e-cigarettes, or in some cases, ban them completely. According to Commar, countries that have imposed blanket bans on the import, manufacture, and sale of e-cigarettes have some of the lowest prevalence rates among youth.
The global adult vaping rate is currently 1.9 percent, but the WHO says use among teenagers is rising much faster, with studies showing that adolescents who vape are up to three times more likely to start smoking cigarettes later in life. “We now know vaping isn’t just an alternative — it’s a gateway,” said Dr. Etienne Krug, WHO Director for Health Promotion.
The agency’s MPOWER framework, which guides global tobacco control, includes several measures aimed at preventing youth use: enforcing smoke-free public areas, banning advertising and display of tobacco products, and implementing school-based education programs. According to Commar, these policies are proven to reduce exposure and denormalize smoking behavior.
“In countries where children grow up rarely seeing adults smoking in public, smoking has stopped being ‘cool,’” she said. “Smoke-free areas are powerful because they change social norms.”
However, experts warn that progress is fragile. Farrar cautioned that complacency could reverse decades of gains. “If governments or communities think the job is done, the numbers will go back up,” he said. “Consistency is everything — applying these measures over time, backed by science and political courage, is the only way forward.”
Beyond addiction, WHO highlighted the health risks associated with vaping, both direct and indirect. “The substances released from e-cigarettes are known to be toxic,” Dr. Farrar said. “It’s not just about the person vaping — it’s about their families and communities. The secondary exposure is real and dangerous.”
WHO estimates that tobacco and nicotine products kill over eight million people every year, including more than one million from secondhand exposure. Farrar noted that e-cigarette aerosols contain harmful chemicals that can affect lung and heart health. “There’s no part of the body that does well with smoking,” he said. “It damages everything.”
Commar also warned that children are getting addicted at increasingly younger ages. While global data mainly track 13–15-year-olds, she said national surveys show cases of children as young as nine or ten experimenting with nicotine. “At that age, the brain is still developing and highly susceptible to addiction,” she said. “Once hooked, these kids often remain dependent for life — and the industry knows it.”
The WHO report concludes that while significant progress has been made globally, the world will miss the 2025 target of a 30 percent reduction in tobacco use, achieving only 27 percent. Experts say this shortfall — representing about 50 million more people still using tobacco — underscores the urgency of tackling new nicotine products.
“The industry has changed its packaging, but not its playbook,” Commar said. “They’re still selling addiction — just in shinier, fruit-flavored forms. We must act now to protect our children.”
