On World No Tobacco Day, 31 May, 2020, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), calls on governments and policymakers to implement stronger measures to protect teenagers and adolescents from tobacco industry marketing, in order to safeguard health and to support global public health goals for a tobacco-free generation.

The call is issued in support of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) overarching World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2020 theme, which focuses on exposing the strategies used by the tobacco industry to appeal to young people in its marketing of novel tobacco and nicotine products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and “smokeless” tobacco products.

In its WNTD 2020 launch statement, the WHO outlines the key strategies used by the tobacco industry to entice young people to use novel tobacco and nicotine products, including through the use of sweet flavourings, false claims about the “safety” of novel tobacco products, in-direct marketing on TV, film and online through social media influencers, and by using “sleek” product designs to hide the fact its products are devices of tobacco and nicotine inhalation.

Many studies have found that e-cigarette vapour contains toxic and cancer-causing chemicals, and almost all independent research has revealed some negative health effects associated with e-cigarette use. Existing evidence indicates that this damage will have lasting effects and may lead to the development of diseases in later life [1].

Further, there is currently no evidence to show that heated or “smokeless” tobacco products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes to health. Previous research has shown that more than 20 harmful chemicals were found in heat-not-burn products in higher amounts than in traditional cigarette smoke, and there is some evidence that new chemicals exist in heat-not-burn products that are not present in traditional cigarettes, which could be toxic to the health of young people [1].

FIRS believe that governments have an important role to play in the implementation of legislation to limit these strategies and strongly supports the WHO’s recommendations on ways to counter the tobacco industry, including by:

• Supporting the implementation of comprehensive tobacco control policies, such as those outlined in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
• If not banning, then by applying strict regulations on the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS).
• Implementing bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of nicotine and tobacco products.
• Enforcing policies to prevent tobacco industry lobbying and interference in tobacco control policies.
• Supporting youth groups to advocate, engage and educate young people to help build a movement for a tobacco-free generation.
• Instructing schools to raise awareness of the dangers of initiating nicotine and tobacco product use and adopt tobacco and e-cigarette free campuses.

We must stop the tobacco industry targeting a new generation. FIRS encourages the public health community, civil society organisations, governments, the media and the public to support World No Tobacco Day 2020 and to get involved in WHO activities for this important awareness event.

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Notes

[1] https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/16/1/161ELF.article-info

Image: WHO Headquarters in Geneva  ©WHO: P.VIrot .

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies urges governments around the world to continue to support the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fight against COVID-19.

“More now than ever, the world’s nations need to band together and pool resources in order to fight this global pandemic.  Defunding WHO at such a critical time in our history is a dangerous step in the wrong direction.  FIRS urges the United States government and President Trump to immediately reconsider its decision,” said Stephanie Levine, MD President of FIRS.

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organisation comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally: American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), 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), Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

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.

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This year, World No Tobacco Day focuses on protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use.

For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately employed strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics to attract youth to tobacco and nicotine products. Internal industry documents reveal in-depth research and calculated approaches designed to attract a new generation of tobacco users, from product design to marketing campaigns aimed at replacing the millions of people who die each year from tobacco-attributable diseases with new consumers – youth. 

In response to the tobacco and related industries’ systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to attract a new generation of tobacco users, World No Tobacco Day 2020 will provide a counter-marketing campaign and empower young people to engage in the fight against Big Tobacco.

Tobacco products kill more than 8 million people every year.

Tobacco and related industries’ tactics to market to children and adolescents include:

• Over 15,000 flavours, most of which attract children and adolescents
• Social media influencers and marketing
• Sponsored events and parties
• School scholarships
• Sleek, sexy designs
• Product placement in entertainment media
• Free product samples
• Single stick cigarettes make addiction more affordable
• Selling products at eye level for children 
• Product placement and advertising near schools

Find out more about World No Tobacco Day 2020 here. 

Read the FIRS statement on electronic cigarette use in youths. 

Source: World Health Organisation 

In support of World TB Day, 24 March, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) urges governments to promote tuberculosis (TB) prevention as a critical component of TB elimination.

TB is the leading infectious disease killer worldwide, accounting for 1.5 million deaths in 2018 alone, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2019 Global TB Report. An additional 10 million people fell ill with TB in 2018.

Despite significant progress against TB in recent years, many people struggle to receive the treatment and care they need for reasons ranging from gaps in research and development and insufficient or underfunded health services, to long and difficult treatments or because of stigma. In addition, a quarter of the world’s population is estimated to be living with TB infection, the bacteria that causes the disease. People with TB infection are estimated to have a 5-10 percent chance of developing the disease over their lifetime but TB preventive therapy reduces a person’s risk of developing active TB by 60 to 90 percent.

The Sustainable Development Goals set a target to end the global TB epidemic by 2030 and at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018, world leaders committed to reaching at least 30 million people with preventive therapy by 2022. To do this, governments must ensure people have access to diagnosis and appropriate care at the earliest stage after exposure to TB and ensure populations at higher risk of developing TB, such as young children and people living with HIV, are pro-actively treated with preventive measures.  

FIRS calls for urgent action to advance TB prevention through rapid scale up of access to preventive treatment for TB infection for those most at risk of falling ill of TB including:

• Four million children under five years of age
• 20 million other household contacts of people affected by TB
• Six million people living with HIV and AIDS.

“Globally, we are falling short of targets”, said Dr. Grania Brigden, Director of the TB Department at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) a FIRS founding member. “Only 27 percent of children who were eligible for preventive treatment in 2018 actually received it, and 49 percent of people newly enrolled in HIV treatment received TB preventive treatment.”

Dr. Grania Brigden concludes, “This is an area which has long been neglected. By offering preventive therapies to those who need it we are not only preventing them from experiencing the long treatments for TB but we are also preventing future lung damage and ensuring people and their families can remain TB free.”

Rapid scale up of TB prevention measures must be a priority element in national TB eradication strategies.

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organisation comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally: American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), 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), Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). 

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.