On World No Tobacco Day, WHO urges governments to stop subsidizing tobacco farming and support more sustainable crops that could feed millions. “Tobacco is responsible for 8 million deaths a year, yet governments across the world spend millions supporting tobacco farms,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “By choosing to grow food instead of tobacco, we...
In 2009, Mrs. Margaret Kwaada Julius, a 47-year-old grandmother became a tobacco advocate by chance. Stumbling on the information that, “tobacco kills half its users’’ further reinforced her resolve to dedicate quality time to sensitizing people on the harmful effects of the deadly substance on health and the environment. Presently she says, “I am a...
Message from WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti The world marks World No Tobacco Day on 31 May every year, to raise awareness of the negative health, social, economic and environmental impacts of tobacco production and use. This year’s theme, “Tobacco: Threat to our environment”, aims to highlight the environmental impact of the entire...
Ernest Ajayi, a 45 years-old civil servant who resides in Abuja, recalls that he picked up smoking because he thought “smoking made people look successful, classy and respected”. He said growing up, many movies portrayed the rich and influential people were smokers and that enticed him to start smoking in his early twenties at the...
Every year, WHO recognizes individuals or organizations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. This recognition takes the form of WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award and World No Tobacco Day Awards. WHO Director-General Special award Tobacco Free Portfolios, Australia President of Mexico Mr. Andrés Manuel López...
A report published Thursday has lit a fire under the tobacco industry, which it accuses of causing widespread environmental harm while greenwashing its products and practices in order to mask the real damage. A collaboration between the World Health Organization and global tobacco watchdog STOP, the report warns that carbon emissions by the tobacco industry...
The Programme Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Labram M. Musah has reiterated the need for the government to ban the use of shisha or water-pipe to secure the health of the population. According to him, the future will continue to be uncertain, especially with the youth developing chronic diseases, due to tobacco use. Mr...
On the 34th World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Office and the Planning and Information Department of the National Health Commission (NHC) jointly held a press conference to release the China Report on the Health Hazards of Smoking 2020, introduce China’s WNTD 2021 campaign, and launch the “China Cessation Platform”...
The saying goes that “quitters never win,” but in the case of tobacco, quitters are the real winners. When the news came out that smokers were more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers, it triggered millions of smokers to want to quit tobacco. But without adequate support, quitting can be incredibly...
“Quitters are the real winners in the case of tobacco”, says the World Health Organization as part of a campaign to help smokers that have decided to quit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but lack the support to do so. A new chatbot and even an AI assistant are ready to aid them in their...
