World No Tobacco Day 2025
31 May
Unmasking the appeal
Appealing flavours mask bitter truths.
Bright colours. Glossy packaging.
The tobacco and nicotine industry knows exactly what it's doing.
31 May is World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). In 2025 WHO and public health champions from across the globe will come together for WNTD to raise awareness about the harmful tactics of the tobacco industry.
Unmasking the appeal: Exposing industry tactics on tobacco and nicotine products
This year’s WNTD campaign aims to reveal the strategies employed by the tobacco and nicotine industries to make their harmful products enticing, particularly to young people. By exposing these tactics, WHO seeks to drive awareness, advocate for stronger policies, including a ban on flavours that make tobacco and nicotine products more appealing, and protect public health.
The WHO European Region has 1.1 million deaths from tobacco use each year, including 153 000 from exposure to second-hand smoke.
In 2022, an estimated 179 million people in the European Region were active users of tobacco products: 114 million men, 65 million women.
In the European Region, an estimated 4 million adolescents aged 13–15 use tobacco in various forms.
Nicotine addiction doesn’t start by accident.
The industry has come up with over 16 000 flavours.
They're not “fun” or “cool“ – they’re calculated traps.
Flavours are often cited as the number 1 reason young people start using nicotine and tobacco products.
These products are designed to mask harshness, manipulate impressions and build lifelong addiction.
News
World No Tobacco Day webinar
Videos
Publications
Document
Fact sheets
Questions and answers
E-cigarettes: how risky are they?
Infographics
Related health topic
Global campaign page