WHO gives voice to young people to fight against tobacco

On the occasion of the International Youth Day which will be held on 12 August, the World Health Organization (WHO) will be in collaboration with the Good Governance for Tobacco Control (GGTC), the secretariat of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control Alliance (CCLAT), Global Youth. Voices (GYV), and Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA), are organizing a webinar to present and promote digital solutions and the use of artificial intelligence to combat tobacco industry tactics on digital media.

The webinar will also announce the winners of the 2024 World Media Competition (Global Media Competition) organized by WHO and GGTC. The competition asked people under the age of 35 to create short videos for social media showing the deceptive tactics of the tobacco industry and highlighting effective measures that protect children from its harmful effects. About a hundred young people from 50 countries submitted a video.

Many international and regional tobacco control organizations, such as Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), the Alliance for Tobacco Control in Africa (ACTA), the National Committee against Tobacco (CNCT), SmokeFree Partnership (SFP), Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) and the Swiss Association for Tobacco Control AT Suisse, support this event.

The participation of young people, which is necessary to fight against the epidemic

International Youth Day, celebrated annually on 12 August, recognizes and promotes the important role young people play in global development. This year’s theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Digital Youth Pathways to Sustainable Development”, highlights the critical link between digitization and the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting the essential role of youth in this transformation.

Strengthening the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is specifically mentioned in Sustainable Development Goal 3a, but concrete tobacco control efforts overlap and also affect almost all goals other sustainable development. While youth-focused digital solutions have transformative potential to drive sustainable development, in contrast, the tobacco industry uses digital platforms, in an unregulated manner, to advertise make its nicotine tobacco products among young people and conquer new audiences. In response, WHO FCTC COP10 adopted guidelines in addition to Article 13 to extend the ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship to digital media platforms and inviting parties to cooperate with each other to promote advertising across -enforce boundaries.

For WHO and its partners, International Youth Day provides a unique opportunity to showcase and promote digital solutions proposed by young people to combat the tobacco industry’s movement.

Raise awareness among young people about the fraudulent practices of the tobacco industry

The WHO recalls that for decades the tobacco industry has targeted young people to recruit new customers. Recently, this recruitment includes collaborative campaigns with influencers, social media, music festivals and others, and by marketing new nicotine products such as heated tobacco, vaping products and nicotine pouches containing many attractive aromas. Through this competition, WHO and its partners want to raise awareness of the harmful effects of the tobacco industry’s activities and advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption worldwide.

Participants were asked to make short videos for social media showing these business practices, with an emphasis on a “for young people by young people” approach. Several prize categories are offered with prizes up to $5,000 for the prize winner:

• The best video showing tobacco industry intervention by interpreting data from the Global Tobacco Industry Prevention Index 2023;
• The video that truly represents the message “for young people, by young people” about the dangers of the tactics of the tobacco industry;
• The video showing the role of the tobacco industry in promoting toxic pollution;
• The best video that shows the need to protect children from the tactics of the tobacco industry to preserve their respiratory health;
• And finally, the video that effectively demonstrates the policies and practices of the government that aim to protect young people from the tactics of the tobacco industry.

The videos will be submitted to votes by expert juries and to public voting on social networks. About twenty finalists were pre-selected and their videos can be seen at this link: https://ggtc.world/actions/global-media-competition/entries/

To register for the webinar (August 12, 2024 – 2pm)

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