May 31 – World No Tobacco Day was established by the World Health Organization (hereinafter referred to as WHO) in 1987 at the 42nd session of the World Health Assembly (resolution No. WHA42.19). Its main goal is to consolidate the annual campaign that allows for broad public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use and passive smoking, as well as to promote the reduction of tobacco use in any form.
Since then, WHO has supported World No Tobacco Day every year, linking it to a new theme each year to create a unified campaign around the world. The theme for 2025 is “Expose the Manipulators’ Tricks!”
This year, the World No Tobacco Day campaign is dedicated to exposing the strategies used by tobacco and nicotine manufacturers to make their harmful products more attractive, especially to young people. By exposing these techniques, WHO raises public awareness, advocates for stricter anti-tobacco policies, including a ban on the use of flavourings in tobacco and nicotine products, and protects people’s health.
Manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to make these products attractive, for example, by adding flavors and other additives that change their smell, taste or appearance, using a number of techniques and tricks:
- glamour marketing: elegant product designs, bright colours and appealing flavours are deliberately used to attract a younger audience, including through digital media advertising;
- deceptive design: some products imitate sweets, candies and even cartoon characters – all of which naturally attract children;
- cooling additives and additives: they make the process of consuming these products more enjoyable, which increases the likelihood of their further use and reduces the likelihood of refusing them, increasing the risk of addiction and the development of long-term health consequences, etc.
Much progress has been made in the fight against tobacco, but the tobacco industry is still trying to adapt its methods to new conditions in an effort to attract and retain consumers. These actions, which undermine people’s health, are aimed primarily at vulnerable groups of the population, especially young people.
Everyone knows about the harm of smoking. It is even written on every pack of cigarettes. However, people smoke for pleasure, because of a bad habit they have formed, or for social reasons (for communication, for the “company”, “because everyone smokes”).
The tobacco epidemic is one of the most serious public health threats the world has ever faced. Addiction to nicotine, contained in cigarettes and so-called “electronic cigarettes”, is one of the most powerful and deadly. Tobacco smoking is the main modifiable risk factor for death worldwide. Smoking tops the list of leading causes of noncommunicable diseases, along with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet. Smoking contributes 17.1% to total mortality and 13.4% to total disability.
“WHO estimates that at least half of current tobacco users are at risk of premature death due to smoking.”
Very often, the harm of tobacco and smoking is underestimated, and some formats of tobacco use are considered “safe” in society. But in fact, neither heated tobacco products (iQOS, Ploom, glo and PAX), nor so-called electronic cigarettes (even without tobacco as such, but with nicotine) are less harmful than regular cigarettes, and all the same health risks that smoking carries remain.
Some facts about smoking:
- Smoking is comparable to heroin and cocaine in terms of the strength of the addiction it creates; quitting smoking is associated with withdrawal symptoms, including mood swings, anger, irritability, depression, and difficulty concentrating;
- Nicotine is extremely toxic and stronger than the most dangerous poisons – strychnine and arsenic;
- Tobacco smoke is 4.5 times more toxic than car exhaust and almost 250 times more toxic than gas burner fumes;
- During one smoking session, a person receives almost 3 mg of nicotine from the smoke of one cigarette (60 g of nicotine is a lethal dose for an adult);
- By smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, a person receives a dose of radiation over the course of a year equal to the dose from two hundred X-rays;
- It is estimated that those who started smoking in their teens are 5 times more likely to develop cancer than those who started smoking after the age of 25.
Therefore, governments and health organizations around the world are taking measures to combat tobacco smoking so that people can realize their right to health and a healthy lifestyle and protect future generations.
In 2003, to combat the “tobacco epidemic”, WHO Member States adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). This is a global public health treaty adopted by 182 countries as an agreement to implement tobacco-free policies. Subsequently, WHO developed the MPOWER package of measures aligned with the provisions of the WHO FCTC, which were originally expected to be highly effective in combating tobacco smoking.
Belarus takes effective measures to prevent the consumption of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Each pack of tobacco products, any outer packaging and labeling of such products contain warnings about the harm of smoking to health, the harmful effects of their use, there is a ban on advertising and sales promotion, sponsorship of tobacco products, and work continues to regulate nicotine-containing products. People suffering from nicotine addiction are provided with medical care. Medicinal, non-medicinal methods and their combinations are used to treat nicotine addiction: smoking cessation programs based on behavioral and cognitive psychotherapy, pharmacological treatment in the form of nicotine replacement therapy.
In recent years, thanks to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, physical education and sports, as well as a number of restrictions and prohibitions, the consumption of tobacco products and nicotine-containing products in our country has significantly decreased. According to the results of a nationwide study of the prevalence of the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases among the population of the Republic of Belarus (STEPS study), conducted in 2020 by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus, the share of smokers aged 18-69 in the Brest region was 25.7% (in the republic – 26.7%).
On the occasion of a large-scale anti-tobacco campaign dedicated to the World No Tobacco Day, a plan of informational, educational, consultative and other events from May 26 to June 30, prepared by the Brest Regional Center for Hygiene and Health, was approved, approved by the order of the Main Health Department of the Regional Executive Committee. Such events can be different, mainly they have an educational focus and are designed to give people knowledge about how tobacco affects their health and how tobacco manufacturers can mislead with the help of attractive consumer characteristics.
In order to reduce the population’s interest in consuming tobacco products, healthcare organizations, together with interested departments and public organizations of the Brest region, will hold events of various formats. During this period, the Brest Regional Narcological Dispensary and the Brest Regional Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health will organize consultations with a psychotherapist from May 26 to June 30 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. by calling 8 (0162) 53 47 02 and a doctor of medical prevention from May 26 to June 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. by calling 8 (0162) 53 05 89, except weekends.
Whether you smoke or not, join our campaign to raise awareness and advocate for a healthier, tobacco-free future. Make May 31, 2025 the start of a new life without cigarettes!
