The tobacco industry threatens not only public health, it also causes economic strain and next generation addiction. It seeks to sabotage health policies, affects the environment in negative ways, and its dirty money buys influence, promotes misleading narratives, takes advantage of loopholes and pays for tactics to sabotage tobacco control.

 WHO's campaign aims to expose tobacco industry tactics to win public influence and interfere with health policies that will impact generations to come. WHO stands with young people globally, who have begged the industry to stop interfering with health policies and to stop targeting them with new harmful products, while promising a better future. 

Key facts

The tobacco industry’s ongoing tactics to win influence and interfere with health policies include:

• claiming a public health role while killing over 8 million people every year
• saying they are ‘sustainable’ while their products pollute our planet
• funding scientists or 3rd parties to produce biased research
• financing front groups to lobby against tobacco control policies
• paying for social media influencers and event sponsorships
• hiring legal teams to litigate, challenge and delay tobacco regulations
• financially supporting activist groups to rally against tobacco policies.

WHO’s campaign objectives are to:

1. counter the tobacco industry’s infodemic and show policy makers how the industry continues to target children and youth;
2. protect future generations by asking governments to safeguard health policy-making from tobacco industry interference;
3. spread awareness about the various tactics the tobacco industry uses to influence public opinions and policy; and
4. amplify calls from youth to protect them from the tobacco industry.

Resources