On the eve of World No Tobacco Day observed on May 31, Saima Wazed, Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region (SEARO), along with experts, called for unmasking the tobacco and e-vaping industries—condemning their deceptive marketing tactics that aggressively target children, adolescents, and women.
“Flavoured products, influencer promotions, colourful packaging, and misleading health claims are not harmless trends — they are deliberate tools of addiction,” warned Wazed. “We must unmask these tactics for what they are: targeted, manipulative, and deadly.”
The WHO SEARO bears the highest tobacco burden globally, with approximately 411 million adult tobacco users, including over 280 million users of smokeless tobacco — representing 77% of the global total. Most alarmingly, 11 million adolescents aged 13–15 years in the Region are already addicted to tobacco products, making up nearly 30% of global users in that age group.
Despite these concerning figures, Saima Wazed noted the region's significant progress, with adult male tobacco use declining from 68.9% to 43.7% and female use from 33.5% to 9.4% between 2000 and 2022.
“These gains are the result of strong political commitment, evidence-based interventions, and sustained public health efforts,” she added.
The Region is currently on track to exceed the NCD Global Target of a 30% relative reduction in tobacco use by 2025, with projections indicating a 34% decline — a notable public health achievement, shared the WHO SEARO head.
However, much more is yet to be done. In India alone, over 1.3 million people die each year due to the consumption of deadly tobacco products, while e-vaping devices continue to be sold and promoted through nefarious means despite existing bans.
Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of Rheumatology at AIIMS Delhi said that most tobacco stakeholders, including caregivers, producers, and tobacco farmers, as well as the majority of consumers, suffer from multiple chronic health hazards.
“This chronic health hazard shortens their life span and leads to miserable death. Cigarette smoke consists of approximately 4,000 different chemicals, many of which are active and can cause harm to the body, including toxicity, mutation, and cancer. Nicotine, the main ingredient in tobacco, is so addictive that it can cause an addiction comparable to that of heroin.”
Dr. Alok Thakar, Professor of head-neck surgery and Otorhinolaryngology at the AIIMS, New Delhi pointed out that oral cancer cases are on rise due to unabated sale and consumption of tobacco products like cigarette, beedi, khaini, tambaku, gutka and zarda and stressed on regulation in actual sense to help cut down the country’s health burden.
Around 60 per cent of people in the labour class found to be consuming some form of tobacco, they constitute the most vulnerable sections of the society. It’s not only conventional tobacco products like cigarettes and Guthka, the growing promotion of new-age gateway devices, including vapes and e-cigarettes is also threatening.
This was highlighted at a seminar organised recently by Mothers Against Vaping, a grassroots movement of concerned parents. The health experts and law enforcement officials highlighted the alarming spread of vaping among Indian youth, despite the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), 2019, which bans these products.
“Despite the ban, producers have found ways to circumvent the laws and promote e-cigarettes and vapes,” said Avinash Sunthlia, Deputy Additional Director General, Union Health Ministry.
“They market these devices as smoking cessation tools, but in reality, they are recruiting new users for a lifetime of dependence,” he added.
He informed that on its part, the Ministry has initiated comprehensive school guidelines, teacher training, and digital campaigns to raise awareness and counter misinformation.
Giving the law enforcement and policy perspectives, Jaspal Singh, Special Commissioner of Police for Protective Security, Delhi, revealed a disturbing trend of vapes being used for hard drug intake.
“What makes the threat more dangerous is how these devices are glamorized through social media influencers and covert marketing,” Singh said, adding that, “We need robust coordination between customs, police, transporters, and courier agencies to curb the inflow of these banned products.”
He emphasised the importance of citizen awareness, calling for stronger national campaigns to highlight the illegality and dangers of these products.
Puducherry Secretary Padma Jaiswal echoed similar views as she stated that, the government has made the law banning vaping and e-cigarettes because it has seen from its data that most of the users who are being affected by vaping are adolescents who are in schools and colleges.
“Being a mother myself, I am aware that vaping is rampant and the habit leaves a strong impact among the adolescents and the youth. They are attracted to these devices because they are promoted as a luxury, a style statement with the narrative that it is neither harmful nor punitive. Therefore, we need to raise the awareness that these electronic devices are banned in India.”
They also released the report “Unmasking the Appeal — How Vapes and E-Cigarettes Continue to be Promoted Unabated in India”, by the Mothers Against India, shedding light on loopholes, digital advertising tactics, and the failure of enforcement mechanisms.
