World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day 2025
Theme – Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics and Tobacco and Nicotine Products
The World Health Organization (WHO) designates 31st May of every year as the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). The theme of WNTD 2025 is “Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products”, revealing how the tobacco and nicotine industries deceive the public and make their harmful products attractive.
Half of smokers die from smoking-related diseases. Recruiting new smokers to replace the millions of smokers who die or quit smoking every year and dissuading smokers from quitting are important strategies of the tobacco and nicotine industries to maintain profits. New products (e.g. electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products) and product features (e.g. flavourings) are consistently developed to attract people, especially young people, to tobacco and nicotine use. Major tactics include:
1. Flavourings
Changing the smell, taste or appearance of products, masking the harshness of tobacco, and improving the palatability
2. Coolants and additives
Making smoking experience smoother, thereby promoting continued use and discouraging quitting
3. Glamorized marketing
Attracting younger generations through sleek designs, alluring colours and flavours, and digital media promotions
4. Deceptive designs
Mimicking items that are naturally appealing to children, such as candies and cartoon characters
WNTD 2025 aims to:
1. Raise public awareness of how the tobacco and nicotine industries manipulate the appearance and appeal of their products
2. Advocate for measures to reduce attractiveness of tobacco and nicotine products, include bans on flavourings and additives, complete bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (including on digital platforms), and regulations of product designs and packages
3. Reduce demand for tobacco and nicotine products, particularly in youth, by exposing tactics of the industries
Please visit the WHO website for more information of WNTD 2025.
The themes of WNTD in recent years: