FIRS calls for action to prevent young people from taking up smoking
On World No Tobacco Day (31 May 2023) the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), of which the APSR is a founding member, is encouraging policy makers to take steps to prevent young people from taking up smoking.
Despite initiatives around the world to reduce the use of tobacco products amongst young people, such as restrictions in marketing and raising the minimum age of sale to 18 years old, smoking is still prevalent amongst those aged 18 and under:
The brains of children and adolescents are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine and nicotine addiction. The later an individual begins smoking, the less likely they are to smoke later in life. Smokers are much more likely than non-smokers to develop lung cancer, COPD and other respiratory diseases, it is therefore crucial that we prevent tobacco use in young people to protect them from lifelong addiction and its extensive adverse health effects.
To protect young people from the dangers of tobacco use, FIRS urges policy makers to adopt Tobacco 21 (T21) policies which raise the minimum age for the sale of tobacco products to 21 years.
Many countries have already begun to raise the minimum age of sale of tobacco products beyond the 18 years specified by the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC):
Modelling suggests that increasing the legal age of tobacco products to 21 years will reduce tobacco initiation, particularly in adolescents aged 15–17 years, resulting in fewer tobacco attributable deaths. [14]
It is estimated that the global yearly death toll as a result of tobacco use is currently 7 million (including exposure to second hand smoke) [15]. As countries move towards ending the use of tobacco products, FIRS urges policy makers to adopt Tobacco 21 policies and reduce the harmful impacts of tobacco products on the global population.
About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)