On World No Tobacco Day 2024 (31 May), the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is drawing attention to the dangers that novel tobacco products pose to children and young people, alongside calling out the predatory marketing techniques of the tobacco industry, looking to secure lifetime consumers of their products.

Evidence suggests that novel tobacco products have negative impacts on respiratory health. The emergence and growth of such products raises health concerns for individuals of any age, with some specific concerns identified for the younger population.

Increasing evidence shows that novel tobacco and nicotine products constitute gateways to nicotine addiction and the initiation of smoking among youth. A recent review of 189 studies on vaping and e-cigarettes concluded that non-smoking youths who use e-cigarettes have substantially higher likelihood of starting smoking.

“The brains of children and adolescents are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine and they face an increased risk of nicotine addiction. The earlier an individual begins smoking, the more likely they are to continue smoking later in life” says, Filippos Filippidis, Chair of the Tobacco Control Committee of the European Respiratory Society.

“Tobacco products are particularly damaging to young people. Lungs continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence, and therefore are more vulnerable to the negative effects of novel and traditional tobacco products”.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the tobacco industry has stated previously that younger adults are the only source of replacement smokers, noting that high school age children are the base of their business.

The WHO also notes that the tobacco industry spends on average $23 million a day on marketing, and increasingly use digital and social media platforms to target younger markets. Social media influencers who reach and engage children and adolescents are employed as brand ambassadors and are offered financial incentives to promote tobacco products. One study showed that posts featuring 100 hashtags associated with tobacco companies had been viewed more than 25 billion times.

“With the evidence and dangers that tobacco products pose to our children clear to see, the marketing techniques used to promote such products must be called out and prevented.  Appealing flavours, bright colours and advertisements, both direct and indirect, such as product placement in films and social media can be particularly appealing to young people, and they do play a significant role in steering adolescents towards nicotine addiction. They need to be prohibited.”

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

Information referenced in this statement can be found in the publications below:

• European Respiratory Society statement on novel nicotine and tobacco products, their role in tobacco control and “harm reduction”
• https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/tobacco-industry-tactics-to-attract-younger-generations
• https://assets.tobaccofreekids.org/factsheets/0114.pdf

Respiratory groups call for comprehensive TB screening in high-burden settings.

On World TB Day, 24 March 2024,  the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) calls on all stakeholders, including multilateral agencies, governments, national and local programmes, non-governmental organisations, academics, activists and donors to focus on activities that will break the chain of transmission in high-burden settings in order to end tuberculosis (TB).

In high-burden settings, TB is endemic: meaning everyone is at risk, all the time, through the unbroken chain of transmission. To break the chain, it is critical that we screen everyone in high-burden settings for TB, so that we can find and treat all people with TB and prevent them from infecting others. The latest evidence shows that in high-burden settings, most people with infectious TB do not have symptoms (such as, cough or fever) and many are not members of high-risk groups. Hence, it is vital that screening for TB is not limited to those with symptoms or those who are members of high-risk groups.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before the availability of vaccines, this approach of widespread testing, was rolled out by governments across the globe and proved to be highly effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Professor Guy Marks, President and Interim Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), a member of FIRS, says: “We must be brave and recognise that the current strategy to end TB in high-burden countries is not achieving the results we hoped for. We need to change our approach if we are to win the fight against this infectious disease.”

In 2022, 10.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.3 million died from the[i] disease - more deaths than from any other infectious disease[ii].

Professor Marks explains: “The incidence of TB in high-burden countries is falling at a glacially slow pace. The simple reason for this is that far too many people with TB remain undiagnosed and untreated, often because they do not experience or recognise symptoms that lead to a diagnosis. These people are infectious and can transmit the infection to others in their households, workplaces and communities. So, the transmission continues: more people are infected and many of them develop TB.”

It was the same with COVID-19, another airborne infection, where much of the spread in the community occurred from people with infectious COVID-19 who did not have symptoms.

Professor Marks adds: “The latest evidence suggests that in high-burden settings, most people with TB have been recently infected (within the last two years). This means that reducing the rate of new infections (or reinfections) with TB can have a big impact on preventing people from becoming sick with TB, and hence, breaking the chain of transmission and ending TB.”

The standard approach to controlling TB has been to wait for people to seek care, be correctly diagnosed and take medication. However, we now know that many people with infectious TB do not have symptoms, and as a result, do not visit healthcare facilities seeking care.

Additionally, those who do seek care often encounter hurdles in terms of accessing diagnosis and treatment, due to TB not being appropriately prioritised by healthcare systems.

Professor Marks concludes: “These strategic and operational modifications will not achieve an end to TB in isolation. They must be accompanied by a change in public mindset and behaviour towards TB.”

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Notes to editor

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

The Global Impact of Respiratory Disease report outlines major causes of respiratory disease and lays out recommendations for global action.

[i] https://www.who.int/news/item/07-11-2023-tuberculosis-response-recovering-from-pandemic-but--accelerated-efforts-needed-to-meet-new-targets

[ii] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284273#pone.0284273.ref001

On World Asthma Day 2024 (7 May), the message is clear: "Asthma Education Empowers." The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) stresses the crucial role of education in empowering people with asthma to manage their condition effectively and to know when to seek medical assistance.

 FIRS also urges healthcare professionals to enhance their awareness of the preventable morbidity and mortality from asthma and of the published evidence on effective asthma management, so they are equipped to provide reliable information and optimal treatment for their patients. 

 Asthma is one of the most common chronic non-communicable diseases that affects over 260 million people and is responsible for over 450,000 deaths each year worldwide, most of which are preventable.

 Key universal issues on which education is required are:

• under- or inaccurate diagnosis,
• underuse of anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid inhalers,
• overuse, and over-reliance on short-acting beta2–agonist (SABA) inhalers,
• poor recognition of patients requiring specialist assessment and further management.

In low-middle-income countries, lack of availability of inhaled medicines and especially inhaled corticosteroid-containing inhalers is a major contributor to the fact that more than 90% of asthma deaths occur in these countries.

FIRS calls on policymakers and the pharmaceutical industry to recognize the ongoing issue of preventable illness caused by this common disease, despite the existence of highly effective controller treatments, and to step up efforts to make sure environmentally friendly inhaled medications are available in all countries, ensuring everyone has access, "leaving no-one behind". Read more www.ginasthma.org/reports.

World Asthma Day was first held in 1998, and, has grown each year to become one of the most important asthma events globally. On World Asthma Day, hundreds of awareness-raising activities will take place in countries all over the world. Further information about GINA and World Asthma Day can be found at GINA’s website: ginasthma.org. Documents detailing GINA’s global strategy for diagnosis, management, and prevention of asthma are also available at ginasthma.org.

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About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

We are thrilled to announce that the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) will again be partnering with The European Lung Foundation to offer 10 grants of €1,000. The grants will go to organisations across the globe to help us improve lung health as part of Healthy Lungs for Life (HLfL) and World Lung Day.

HLfL is a global public awareness campaign that currently focuses on physical activity, (#TakeTheActiveOption), air quality (#BreatheCleanAir), stopping smoking (#BeSmokeFree), vaccination (#Vaccinate) and climate change (#FightClimateChange).

World Lung Day is a day for lung health advocacy and activities supporting this. By coordinating events to fall on the same day we can make more noise about lung health, sending a powerful statement across the world.

HLfL grants

We know that organisations working within their local communities are able to connect and inform in ways that can bring about real change. We want to provide funding to enable their work, helping us to reach more people and connect in imaginative ways.

HLfL grants are available to help organisations run events, create materials and launch online campaigns to promote HLfL and to run activities on and around World Lung Day (25 September).

In 2024 we are only offering the grant to people who have not received a grant in the last 2 years. This is to help us support new people and ensure that the HLfL campaign can reach new audiences.

We will be prioritising projects that highlight the importance of health equity and the impacts of air pollution in line with the priority of World Lung Day, and also engage children and young people.

The deadline for applications is 5 June 2024. Apply here, or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.