Pretoria – Every year, greater than 8 million folks worldwide lose their lives to tobacco-related illnesses together with over 1 million on account of second-hand smoke. These will not be simply numbers; they’re dad and mom, siblings, youngsters, and associates.

As a guardian and grandparent, I fear deeply concerning the world we’re forsaking for our kids. The surge in youth-targeted nicotine merchandise flavoured, glamorized, and deceptively marketed is alarming. It’s not simply cigarettes. E-cigarettes, flavour equipment, and on-line influencers have repackaged habit to look innocent, even aspirational.

This yr’s World No Tobacco Day, themed “Unmasking the Attraction,” is a strong reminder that beneath the candy flavours and modern packaging lies a bitter reality: habit, sickness, and loss.

An estimated 37 million youngsters aged 13–15 use tobacco globally. In lots of international locations, youth e-cigarette use surpasses grownup use. Flavoured merchandise like menthol, mango, and bubblegum are sometimes the gateway into lifelong nicotine dependency. We should act decisively and collectively.

We commend and congratulate South Africa on the progress that has been made to date. Shifting ahead we name for:

• A complete ban on flavour components and equipment in all tobacco and nicotine merchandise.
• Plain packaging to cut back visible attraction.
• Digital regulation to curb on-line advertising and misinformation focusing on youth.
• Strong cessation companies, particularly tailor-made for younger folks and susceptible populations.

Globally, almost 40 international locations have banned flavoured tobacco merchandise, and 88 regulate e-cigarettes with 6 banning flavours totally. These efforts are saving lives. On the latest World Well being Meeting, Member States reaffirmed their dedication to strengthening tobacco management and defending youth from dangerous trade ways.

We want r new, revolutionary approaches to public well being messaging, coverage design, and neighborhood mobilization. Which means investing in youth-led advocacy, enhancing cross-sector collaboration, and utilizing real-time knowledge and surveillance to tell our selections.

WHO South Africa stands able to help the federal government and companions in closing the regulatory gaps, empowering communities, and making certain that each little one grows up in an atmosphere free from the harms of tobacco.

Allow us to work collectively to unmask the attraction, break the phantasm, and defend the subsequent technology.