WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2025: Unmasking Industry Tactics and Empowering Smokers to Quit

The world observes World No Tobacco Day, drawing attention to the tobacco and nicotine industries' increasingly aggressive and dishonest marketing tactics.

- @ DR. SHIVAM, DR. KHUSHI, DR. SHALLI, DR. PRATEEK BHOBATE

"Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products," this year's topic, is a call to action for individuals, governments, and communities to identify and oppose the sophisticated strategies used to entice new users, particularly young people.

Every year on May 31, the World Health Organisation (WHO) observes World No Tobacco Day, which provides a global forum to advocate for effective tobacco use reduction policies and increase public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use.

A Growing Risk Clad in Extravagance

Tobacco smoking continues to kill approximately 8 million people annually, including 1.2 million non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke, making it one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. The popularity of modern nicotine products like e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco devices has increased the risk to public health, even if traditional cigarette smoking is still a major concern. Flavoured options, social media influencers, and celebrity endorsements are used to sell these items as "safer alternatives" and attract younger consumers. According to WHO, over 3.4 billion people have watched nicotine-related content online, which is sometimes glamorised with glitzy packaging and false claims. Health professionals caution that this is not merely promotion, but rather a conscious attempt to normalize addiction under the guise of modernity.

India's Legal Stand: The COTPA Act

India has implemented strong tobacco control laws through the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The act prohibits smoking in public places, bans direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products, mandates graphic health warnings on packaging, restricts sales to minors, and forbids sales near educational institutions.