THE World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over what it called an “alarming” new wave of nicotine addiction, with millions of children worldwide now hooked on e-cigarettes.
In countries where data is available, children are nine times more likely to vape than adults, the UN health agency said.
According to the WHO’s first global estimate, more than 100 million people are now vaping, including at least 86 million adults and 15 million children aged 13 to 15.
“E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” said Etienne Krug, WHO’s director for health determinants, promotion, and prevention. “They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.”
While global smoking rates have declined from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, one in five adults worldwide remains addicted to tobacco.
The agency’s latest global report on tobacco trends noted that at least 12 countries are seeing an increase in tobacco use.
WHO Assistant Director-General Jeremy Farrar said such trends mean “millions more people at risk of disease, disability and premature death.”
Farrar added that tobacco kills more than seven million people annually, with another one million dying from exposure to second-hand smoke.
He also noted that about 40 million children aged 13 to 15 are already using tobacco, warning that e-cigarettes could be “a gateway for young people to maintain nicotine addiction well into adulthood.”
