GENEVA: E-cigarettes are fuelling an “alarming” new wave of nicotine dependancy, with hundreds of thousands of kids now hooked on vaping, the World Well being Group warned Monday (Oct 6).
In international locations which have the info, kids are on common 9 instances extra doubtless than adults to vape, the WHO stated.
The UN well being company stated the trade was selling vapes as supposedly much less dangerous merchandise than cigarettes – however in actual fact was aggressively focusing on younger folks and getting kids addicted.
Greater than 100 million individuals are vaping, in accordance with the WHO’s first world estimate of e-cigarette use.
“The numbers are alarming,” the company stated.
They embody a minimum of 86 million adults, largely in high-income international locations, and a minimum of 15 million kids aged 13 to fifteen.
“E-cigarettes are fuelling a brand new wave of nicotine dependancy,” Etienne Krug, the WHO’s director of well being determinants, promotion and prevention, stated in an announcement.
“They’re marketed as hurt discount however, in actuality, are hooking children on nicotine earlier and danger undermining many years of progress.”
Globally, individuals are smoking much less, with the variety of tobacco customers dropping from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, whereas the world’s inhabitants has swelled.
