{"id":17487,"date":"2024-05-31T14:17:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T12:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?post_type=news&p=17487"},"modified":"2024-05-31T14:59:30","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T12:59:30","slug":"protecting-hearts-safeguarding-futures","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/protecting-hearts-safeguarding-futures\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Hearts, Safeguarding Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Heart Federation is excited to celebrate World No Tobacco Day with the global cardiovascular health and tobacco control communities. Tobacco remains a significant, yet preventable, risk factor for cardiovascular disease, accounting for approximately 17% of all cardiovascular disease deaths. WHF believes that everyone everywhere \u2013 from childhood through adolescence and adulthood \u2013 has a right to be protected from the pernicious health impacts of tobacco.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tobacco industry has a long history of systematic and deliberate interference in health and regulatory sciences. Through biased and deceptive industry-funded research, it has sought to sow unnecessary and harmful confusion and controversy among the public, scientists, and policymakers to promote its products.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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For decades, the industry has targeted young people with aggressive marketing strategies to perpetuate nicotine addiction. Its focus on children and adolescents, especially in low- and middle-income countries where regulations on advertising, promotion, and sponsorship are more lenient or not strictly enforced, is particularly alarming. In some regions, advertisements are even strategically placed outside of schools. Studies have shown that youth exposed to such marketing ploys are significantly more prone to use tobacco and nicotine products.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tactics of the industry are multifaceted, including greenwashing, sportswashing, sponsoring of youth-oriented events, and using influencer endorsements to craft a \u201ccool\u201d and \u201ctrendy\u201d image of its products, ultimately aiming to secure lifelong addiction. The addition of flavouring agents in both conventional and newer tobacco and nicotine products is perhaps the most egregious strategy to appeal to youth, with over 15\u2019000 flavours designed to entice first-time users and foster dependence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, the popularity of newer recreational nicotine products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes, has surged drastically. Aggressive misinformation campaigns and industry-funded studies have largely contributed to the common belief that e-cigarettes are mostly harmless.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The WHF Policy Brief, <\/span>E-Cigarettes: A New Threat to Cardiovascular Health<\/span><\/i><\/a>, highlights that e-cigarettes are far from innocuous and pose significant risks to cardiovascular health. In particular, modern e-cigarettes can deliver nicotine concentrations comparable to, or even greater than, conventional cigarettes. The WHF Policy Brief, <\/span>Nicotine and Cardiovascular Health: When Poison Is Addictive<\/span><\/i><\/a>, shows that nicotine can harm the heart, even on its own. In addition, in the case of infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women, nicotine can impair brain development, potentially leading to cognitive and behavioural issues.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, newer tobacco and nicotine products are designed with young consumers in mind, as a critical market for long-term profitability. As such, the World Heart Federation urges all stakeholders to protect younger generations from the manipulative tactics of the tobacco industry. In particular, we call on governments to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n