Particle.news
Download on the App Store
9 ARTICLES
·
2mo ago

WHO Flags Gaps in Global Tobacco Control as India Receives Bloomberg Award

WHO calls for steep tax increases on tobacco to sustain gains against industry interference.

Image
The report released at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin focuses on the six proven WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use, which claims over 7 million lives a year.
Image
Image

Overview

  • The WHO’s Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report finds that 155 countries now enforce at least one MPOWER measure, protecting 6.1 billion people compared with just 1 billion in 2007.
  • Tobacco taxation remains the least adopted MPOWER policy with 134 countries failing to reach best-practice levels, prompting WHO to urge steep price hikes to curb use and fund health services.
  • Graphic health warnings have expanded to 110 countries, covering 62 percent of the global population, yet inconsistent enforcement and weak smokeless tobacco packaging rules persist.
  • Regulation of electronic nicotine delivery systems rose from 122 to 133 countries since 2022, but more than 60 nations still lack any rules on e-cigarettes.
  • India earned a 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for best-practice cessation support and warning labels and saw Michael Bloomberg launch a $20 million Accelerator Fund to bolster tobacco control in lower-income nations.