New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries in Southeast Asia to step up efforts to control the use of tobacco and e-cigarettes.In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO said that the region continues to be the highest globally in terms of tobacco consumption.
According to the WHO South-East Asia Region, the use of tobacco has decreased slightly from 68.9 per cent in 2000 to around 43.7 per cent in 2022. However, the region still accounts for the highest number of people using tobacco worldwide. This is why the WHO has called for urgent measures to control e-cigarettes, which have not been proven to be effective in smoking cessation.
The WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Saima Wazed, said, “The region still has the highest number of people using tobacco, which puts them at risk of life-threatening diseases such as cancer, respiratory and heart disease. Urgent measures are also needed to control e-cigarettes, which have not been proven to be effective for smoking cessation. We must do all we can to control tobacco and e-cigarette use to protect health and save lives.”
The WHO noted that the use of e-cigarettes, particularly among young people, is increasing rapidly in many countries. This trend is particularly concerning as it increases the risk of addiction among young people and also widens the gap between young people who use e-cigarettes and those who use conventional cigarettes.The organisation has also expressed its commitment to support policies aimed at countering the tobacco and e-cigarette industries’ interference for safeguarding the health of the more than two billion people in the Region.
The WHO South-East Asia Region is on track to achieve the NCD 2025 target of a 30 per cent reduction in tobacco use by 2025.