Govts warned as tobacco-induced deaths exceed 8 million

DUBLIN - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning governments and public health institutions worldwide: Despite decades of progress, the tobacco industry is evolving, and its products—whether smoked, heated, or flavoured—are still killing millions each year.

WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounded the warning on June 23, 2025, as he officially opened the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin.

The ceremony attracted over 2,000 people, including health advocates, policymakers, health ministries, young people and other anti-tobacco stakeholders from around the globe.

“Tobacco kills over seven million people every year. And of course, 1.3 million more due to second-hand smoke, it remains the single most preventable cause of premature death. No country in the world is left untouched.”

World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin on June 23, 2025, and attracted over 2000 people including health advocates, policymakers, health ministries, and young people. (Courtesy Photo)

Control measures

His message was anchored at the launch of WHO’s 2025 Tobacco Epidemic report, which highlights that 6.1 billion people—three-quarters of the global population—are now covered by at least one of the WHO’s six recommended tobacco control strategies under the MPOWER package.

The WHO MPOWER package is a set of six tobacco control measures designed to help countries reduce tobacco demand standing for Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies, Protect people from tobacco smoke, Offer help to quit tobacco use, Warn about the dangers of tobacco, Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and Raise taxes on tobacco.

Since the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) came into force 20 years ago, smoking prevalence has dropped by a third globally, and 300 million fewer people smoke today than would have if rates had remained unchanged according to the report.

However, Tedros noted that much as the progress is worth celebrating, it is not enough. The tobacco industry continues to undermine regulation and rebrand its products, exploiting every legal and policy loophole to maintain profits.

“These products are part of a broader strategy by the tobacco industry to profit from addiction, disease and death,” he warned.

“The marketing is aggressive. The appeal of their products is strong. And regulation is often weak, no matter how it's packaged, tobacco kills.”

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

He highlighted that much of the industry’s current focus lies in the promotion of newer products like e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches—often marketed in bright packaging and candy-like flavours that are particularly attractive to young people.

“Our vigilance on new products must grow hand-in-hand with intensified action on conventional tobacco products,” Tedros urged.

He warned that failing to regulate these alternatives with the same rigour risks reversing years of public health gains.

The WHO report reveals that while 110 countries now enforce graphic health warnings on cigarette packets—up from just a handful in 2007—22 countries still have no such requirement.

The global average size of health warnings has grown from 30% to nearly 60% of the pack, and two countries have gone as far as 92.5%. Yet 40 countries, home to around two billion people, still have no MPOWER measures in place at all.

Save lives

WHO director of health promotion Dr Rüdiger Krech said governments must now catch up with the wave of new products flooding the market.

“The industry is aggressively marketing to young people,” he said. “They are deliberately flooding the market with thousands of new products, making it very difficult for regulators to keep up.”

Krech also highlighted significant implementation gaps across several countries.

“Health information can save lives. Pictures save lives, Policies save lives. But only when they're implemented, enforced, and protected from interference.” He noted.

Since 2022, 134 countries have failed to make cigarettes less affordable, while just three have raised tobacco taxes to best-practice levels, with over 30 nations still allowing the sale of cigarettes without any health warnings, and only one-third of the world’s population is protected by smoke-free laws or has access to cost-covered quitting services.

Change is possible

Despite these challenges, Tedros reminded the world that change is possible, especially when science, political will and civil society align.

“The greatest gains have been made in developing countries, where despite aggressive industry interference, governments and society have demonstrated that change for the better is possible,” he said.

He urged countries, researchers and lawmakers to step up their fight against tobacco by adopting stronger policies and closing regulatory loopholes.

He called on all governments to implement at least one additional best-practice tobacco control measure within the next year, highlighting the urgent need to raise tobacco taxes as a means of reducing consumption and generating vital revenue for health systems.

“Raising taxes on tobacco is a proven way to reduce tobacco use while generating revenues to reinvest in health,” Tedros said.

He also appealed to researchers to deepen the evidence base on the health risks of new and emerging nicotine products and pressed lawmakers to ban child-targeted flavours and designs in vaping products.

The WHO MPOWER package is a set of six tobacco control measures designed to help countries reduce tobacco. (Courtesy Photos)

Low and middle-income countries are burdened

Andrew Black, from the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, called for the use of fiscal policy as a tool.

He noted that as many low and middle-income countries face dwindling overseas development aid, increasing taxes on tobacco could fill critical funding gaps while saving lives.

"WHO estimates that about 1.3 billion people are still using tobacco products in some form, and that four out of five of those tobacco users are in lower-middle-income countries. That means that increasingly the burden of tobacco diseases will fall on lower-middle-income countries, and that's also a cause for great concern. Tobacco use is one of the primary risk factors for non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, lung disease and cancer. We also need to remember that tobacco use puts people at risk of communicable diseases as well, including tuberculosis," Black said.

While tobacco control has been insulated from some of the recent cuts to global health funding—thanks largely to support from Bloomberg Philanthropies—challenges persist.
Kelly Larson a programme director at Bloomberg Philanthropies, who are the official sponsors of this year’s conference, underscored the organisation’s long-standing commitment to tobacco control.

She noted that since 2007, the initiative has supported over 328 tobacco control policies in about 150 countries, contributing to an estimated 35 million lives saved.