Tobacco impact

the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world
has ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year around the world.
More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while
around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-
hand smoke[wto]

 fact Tobacco kills up to half of its users.

 Over 80% of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and
middle-income countries
 Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending
from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco.

Illicit trade of tobacco products must be

stoppedThe illicit trade in tobacco products poses major health, economic
and security concerns around the world. It is estimated that 1 in every 10
cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally is illicit. The illicit market is
supported by various players, ranging from petty traders to big tobacco
companies,

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) are addictive and not without
harm
Things to do to reduce death to smoke

 Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers and are popular, as they
do not harm business and they encourage smokers to quit. Smoke free laws
means no smoker allowed in public place and workplace this will help the
reduction in death of non-smoker or second-hand smoker
 An increase of tobacco prices by 10% decreases tobacco consumption by
about 4% in high-income countries and about 5% in low- and middle-income
countries. Find elasticity also
 World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on May 31.

The 6 MPOWER measures are:

 Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies

 Protect people from tobacco use
 Offer help to quit tobacco use
 Warn about the dangers of tobacco
 Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
 Raise taxes on tobacco.


Supply-reduction measures
 Article 15: Illicit trade in tobacco products
 Article 16: Sales to and by minors
 Article 17: Provision of support for economically viable alternative
activities
Demand-reduction measures
 Article 6: Price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco
 Article 8: Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke
 Article 9: Regulation of the contents of tobacco products
 Article 10: Regulation of tobacco product disclosures
 Article 11: Packaging and labelling of tobacco products
 Article 12: Education, communication, training and public awareness
  Article 13: Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
 Article 14: Demand-reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence
and cessation

Tobacco industry tactics during COVID-19 While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the
vulnerability of the world’s population to severe respiratory infection, the tobacco and e-cigarette
industries found a number of ways to get around public health measures that restricted access to
non-essential products and exploited the context for their own commercial ends. The STOP
initiative at the University of Bath has systematically documented cases of industry interference
since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a list of some of the tactics they have identified: ■

Donations to countries portrayed as corporate social responsibility (CSR). In Greece, for example,
amid findings that smoking predisposes people to more severe outcomes of COVID-19, Philip Morris
International donated several ventilators to ICUs. The industry further promoted these actions as
socially responsible actions on their websites and in presentations to their shareholders, while
remaining silent on the direct harms of using their products.

■ Attempting to gain a voice in scientific debates. For example, involvement in research conducted
on tobacco-plant vaccine development positions the tobacco industry as being “part of the
solution”.

■ Producing promotional material that appears almost identical to official public health
communications from health authorities.

■ Widely distributing promotional merchandise such as masks with industry logos

. ■ Offering significant discounts and promotions for e-cigarette “contactless delivery” and kerbside
drop-off locations.

■ The use of contactless delivery, which can undermine “minimum age of purchase” restrictions, and
the waiver of ID validation requirements at the point of delivery of HTPs in at least one country.

■ Appropriation of the “Stay at home” social media hashtag (which was used by government and
public health officials) to promote heated tobacco products and ENDS.

■ Using social media posts to promote the use of ENDS and other products as ideal companions for
those working from home.

■ Making claims about the health benefits of ENDS. For instance, US Bidi Vapor claimed on
Instagram that “A bidi stick a day keeps the pulmonologist away”.

■ Policy interference by challenging classifications of “essential” businesses to ensure their

businesses were not negatively impacted.

■ Policy interference by lobbying governments to reopen tobacco/ cigarette factories early in the
pandemic in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russian Federation. This
resulted in the deaths of two workers in Indonesia from COVID-19.
 ■ The tobacco industry has also been using the impact of the pandemic to undermine pending
tobacco control measures. In Europe, for example, tobacco industry representatives have used the
pandemic to postpone a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes. ■ Donations to
countries portrayed
Tobacco industry tactics during COVID-19 While the COVID-19 pandemic
highlighted the vulnerability of the world’s population to severe respiratory
infection, the tobacco and e-cigarette industries found a number of ways to get
around public health measures that restricted access to non-essential products
and exploited the context for their own commercial ends. The STOP initiative
at the University of Bath has systematically documented cases of industry
interference since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a list of some of
the tactics they have identified: ■ Donations to countries portrayed as
corporate social responsibility (CSR). In Greece, for example, amid findings that
smoking predisposes people to more severe outcomes of COVID-19, Philip
Morris International donated several ventilators to ICUs. The industry further
promoted these actions as socially responsible actions on their websites and in
presentations to their shareholders, while remaining silent on the direct harms
of using their products. ■ Attempting to gain a voice in scientific debates. For
example, involvement in research conducted on tobacco-plant vaccine
development positions the tobacco industry as being “part of the solution”. ■
Producing promotional material that appears almost identical to official public
health communications from health authorities. ■ Widely distributing
promotional merchandise such as masks with industry logos. ■ Offering
significant discounts and promotions for e-cigarette “contactless delivery” and
kerbside drop-off locations. ■ The use of contactless delivery, which can
undermine “minimum age of purchase” restrictions, and the waiver of ID
validation requirements at the point of delivery of HTPs in at least one country.
■ Appropriation of the “Stay at home” social media hashtag (which was used
by government and public health officials) to promote heated tobacco
products and ENDS. ■ Using social media posts to promote the use of ENDS
and other products as ideal companions for those working from home. ■
Making claims about the health benefits of ENDS. For instance, US Bidi Vapor
claimed on Instagram that “A bidi stick a day keeps the pulmonologist away”. ■
Policy interference by challenging classifications of “essential” businesses to
ensure their businesses were not negatively impacted. ■ Policy interference by
lobbying governments to reopen tobacco/ cigarette factories early in the
pandemic in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russian
Federation. This resulted in the deaths of two workers in Indonesia from
COVID-19. ■ The tobacco industry has also been using the impact of the
pandemic to undermine pending tobacco control measures. In Europe, for
example, tobacco industry representatives have used the pandemic to
postpone a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes.