Let’s not keep the suspense going any longer: European teenage girls aged 13 to 15 smoke more than their counterparts in any other region of the world. In the same age group, one in seven adolescents vapes regularly. This is the alarming finding of a new analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) relayed by the Guardian: Europe is on track to remain, at least until 2030, the most tobacco-addicted region on the planet.
According to the report, more than 40% of adult smokers worldwide – around 62 million women – live in Europe. Around 4 million adolescents aged 13 to 15 use tobacco products, all forms combined. Added to this is the meteoric rise of electronic cigarettes: the region has the highest prevalence of regular use in the world among 13-15 year olds, with 14.3% of vapers, boys and girls almost equally.
This cocktail is already very expensive. Tobacco causes around 1.1 million deaths each year in the European region, mainly from non-communicable diseases (cancers, cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, etc.). “Without accelerated action, Europe will remain the worst performing region by 2030”warns Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe. He denounces very high rates of vaping among children, which he attributes to an assumed strategy by the industry to conquer this audience.
“We have a responsibility to change course now: protect young people from nicotine addiction, prevent the industry from interfering in health policies, and enforce regulations that will prevent avoidable harm throughout life”insists Hans Kluge. And to explicitly point out the girls: “European girls aged 13 to 15 now have the highest smoking rates in the world among young people in their age group. This is no coincidence, but the result of a deliberate industry strategy targeting young people with flavored products and sophisticated social media marketing.”
A vagueness that suits Big Tobacco
Faced with this offensive, some states are starting to tighten the screws. “Countries like Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are proving that it is possible to fight back, by regulating new products, banning flavorings and limiting advertising. All countries in this region should do the same, in order to protect future generations.argues Hans Kluge. WHO Europe recommends applying the same proven tools as for traditional tobacco to e-cigarettes and new products: taxation, bans on smoking in public places, strict control of advertising.
The United Kingdom is a good student when it comes to traditional tobacco: the country is on track to achieve a 30% relative reduction in the prevalence of smoking among those aged 15 and over, and has a usage rate of 13%, the third lowest in Europe behind Turkmenistan and Iceland. But this progress remains the exception. WHO analysis shows that only a third of European countries have “smoke-free” laws covering all public spaces and only a quarter have complete bans on tobacco advertising.
For Kristina Mauer-Stender, regional tobacco control advisor at WHO Europe, the situation is clear: “Decades of progress are at risk if policies do not adapt to the rapidly changing nicotine landscape. It is essential to apply the same effective tobacco control tools to new and emerging products if we are to protect young people and preserve public health gains.. In other words, if states let electronic cigarettes and other flavored products thrive in regulatory vagueness, they offer the industry a plan B to recruit a new generation of addicts.
The figures published by the WHO in any case confirm a worrying symbolic reversal: while, in other regions of the world, women are today at the forefront of the decline in smoking, Europe does not seem to be following the same path, especially among the youngest. A historic delay that the vaping boom, far from helping to catch up, is in the process of consolidating.
