The World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti on Friday said tobacco use among young people in the African Region, aged 13 to 15 years is about seven million.
Moeti who said this in her message to commemorate World No Tobacco Day, stressed that young people are exposed to tobacco products through extensive social media, streaming platform campaigns, and social media influencers.
The annual WNTD campaign is May 31 to raise awareness of the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use. The theme for this year is, “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference.”
The theme is aimed at mobilising international efforts to shield young people from harmful tobacco and nicotine products and the deceptive strategies often used by the tobacco industry to market their products.
According to her more than 37 million young people aged between 13 and 15 years are using tobacco globally.
The Regional Director noted that the organization supports member states to sustain a consistent momentum in tobacco control by pushing for robust tobacco regulations, and stringent controls on marketing strategies for new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products which are often designed to attract young people.
She, however, said the prevalence of tobacco use among adults in the region has declined from 14.9 per cent in 2010 to 9.5 per cent in 2023, and 22 countries in the African region are on track to achieve a 30 per cent reduction by the year 2025 relative to 2010 rates.
She highlighted that the tobacco industry spends considerable time and funds promoting misleading science, lobbying, and performing so-called corporate social responsibility activities as tactics to attract young people and to influence policies to favour its commercial interests over public health.
“This shows that more efforts are still needed to stop the tobacco industry’s relentless efforts to market its products to young people. As WHO, we continue working closely with governments to address the barriers to effective response and speed up the momentum to protect Africa’s young people from tobacco use.