World No Tobacco Day 2026: protecting the next generation and supporting people who smoke
31 May is World No Tobacco Day. Tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of lung cancer, responsible for around 80 to 90 per cent of cases in Europe. 24% of adults in the WHO European Region use tobacco - the highest rate in the world. Lung cancer accounts for 19.7 per cent of all cancer deaths in Europe. And it can affect anyone, including people who have never smoked.
Tobacco dependence is a medical condition, not a personal failing. People who use tobacco deserve support to stop if they want to, and compassion regardless. No one deserves to get cancer.
At the same time, a new generation of young people is being actively recruited into nicotine addiction right now. The products have changed. The platforms have changed. The scale of the targeting has not.
This World No Tobacco Day, Lung Cancer Europe is calling on EU institutions and Member States to strengthen the EU Tobacco Products Directive and Tobacco Advertising Directive. The consultation is open now. The deadline is 15 June 2026.
How young people are targeted by tobacco and nicotine marketing
Internal tobacco industry documents, dating back to the 1970s, show that companies have long described children and young people as "replacement smokers" and "pre-smokers". The terminology has changed. The strategy has not.
According to WHO, tobacco and nicotine companies deliberately use flavoured products, youth-oriented designs, colourful packaging, social media marketing and influencer and celebrity endorsements to attract adolescents and first-time users. Products are designed to appeal to people who have never smoked, not only to those who might switch from cigarettes.
The scale of this marketing is documented. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, content from two major tobacco companies promoting e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products has been viewed more than 3.4 billion times on social media platforms, reaching over 150 million young people under 25.
85% of people aged 15 to 30 surveyed across four countries with tobacco advertising restrictions had been exposed to e-cigarette advertising on social media. Higher exposure was directly linked to higher use.
The industry also uses sports sponsorship, music festivals, gaming platforms and streaming services to place products in young people's lives. Financial relationships with influencers are not always disclosed. Tobacco companies have been identified using influencers who were younger than the companies' own stated voluntary guidelines.
In May 2026, the Guardian reported that a major cigarette manufacturer had launched a new global advertising campaign for one of its best-known brands across approximately 20 countries. The campaign was described by experts as targeting young people’s sense of identity and belonging. The same company’s chief executive had stated three years earlier that cigarettes belong in museums. University of Bath researchers noted that the company’s cigarette sales decline had stalled since that statement was made. WHO has documented this pattern in detail: the industry promotes smoke-free alternatives publicly while continuing to market cigarettes aggressively.
Products are also designed to evade detection. E-cigarettes are manufactured to resemble pens, lipsticks, watches and other everyday objects so they can be used without parents or teachers noticing.
Vaping as a gateway: what the evidence shows
The industry consistently claims that newer nicotine products such as e-cigarettes are intended only for adult smokers who cannot quit through other means. The evidence tells a different story.
Children aged 13 to 15 are using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in every WHO region. In the WHO European Region, 32% of 15-year-olds reported having used e-cigarettes at some point, and 20% had used them in the previous 30 days. Among European adolescents aged 15 to 16, e-cigarette use reached 22% in 2024, ranging from 6.4% in Portugal to 36% in Poland.
Nearly three quarters of e-cigarette users aged 18 to 24 had never smoked a combustible cigarette before. Vaping is, for most young users, a starting point, not a switching point.
Young people who use e-cigarettes are almost three times more likely to go on to use traditional cigarettes. The association is clear and concerning. Young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to later use traditional cigarettes, although researchers continue to debate how much of this relationship is directly causal.
Flavour is the mechanism. Research confirms that flavour is the primary reason young people try e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are available in at least 16,000 unique flavours. More than 70% of young e-cigarette users say they would quit if products were only available in tobacco flavour. When flavour bans are introduced, the industry reformulates products or introduces accessories such as flavour capsules to maintain the same appeal.
Most adults who use tobacco started when they were children or young adults. Users are most likely to become dependent before the age of 21. The young people being recruited through flavoured vapes and social media marketing today face health consequences that will not be fully visible for decades.
The health consequences: tobacco, respiratory disease and lung cancer
Tobacco use was responsible for 18% of noncommunicable disease deaths in Europe in 2020. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is closely linked to smoking, which accounts for around 70% of cases in high-income countries. People with COPD have a four to six times higher risk of developing lung cancer compared with the general population.
Among girls in Europe, the European Region has the highest average rate of tobacco use globally. Europe has the second highest prevalence of tobacco use among adults (25.3%) and adolescents (10.8%) of all WHO regions.
Because lung cancer develops over decades, prevention today will impact the disease burden of the 2040s and beyond. Individuals who stop using tobacco by the age of 30 significantly improve their long-term health outcomes. Policies that reduce the number of young people who start therefore also reduce the number of people who will face tobacco-related disease in later life.
Supporting people who smoke
Most people who smoke want to stop. Quitting is hard. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances there is, and the products delivering it are engineered to deepen that dependence. People who are struggling to quit deserve access to compassionate, evidence-based support. They deserve understanding, not judgement.
No one deserves to get cancer. People living with lung cancer include people who have smoked, people who have never smoked, and people who tried to stop many times. People with lung cancer deserve care, respect and evidence-based support, whatever their smoking history. Tobacco dependence is a medical condition. People affected by it deserve the same compassion and the same quality of care as anyone living with any other serious illness.
Lung cancer remains heavily stigmatised, and that stigma has real consequences. When a disease is perceived as self-inflicted, it becomes easier for policymakers to accept weaker action, even when the evidence clearly supports a different course. People living with lung cancer experience this directly, in clinical settings, in workplaces and in public life. Reducing that stigma is part of Lung Cancer Europe’s work, and it runs alongside, not against, our support for stronger prevention policy.
Stopping tobacco use is the single most effective step a person can take to improve their lung health and reduce their risk of serious disease. Accessible, evidence-based cessation services make that possible for more people. They must be part of any serious approach to tobacco control, funded properly and available equitably across Europe. Stronger regulation and better cessation support are not competing priorities. They are both necessary and they work together.
What Lung Cancer Europe is asking for
Lung Cancer Europe is preparing a formal response to the EU consultation supporting the proposed revision of the Tobacco Products Directive and Tobacco Advertising Directive. The existing legislation was designed around cigarettes and cigars and does not fully account for e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches, influencer marketing or social media promotion. The proposed revision would close those gaps.
We support:
Plain packaging across all tobacco and nicotine products, to reduce appeal and increase visibility of health warnings.
Restrictions on youth-appealing flavours, including the fruity and sweet varieties used to attract young people and first-time users.
Comprehensive advertising restrictions covering influencer marketing, celebrity endorsement, cross-border digital promotion and product placement in entertainment media.
Full coverage of emerging nicotine products, so that novel products cannot sidestep regulation before the rules catch up with them.
A flexible regulatory framework that allows future products to be regulated quickly as they enter the market.
Stricter controls on cross-border sales, including duty-free access at airports and transport hubs.
We recognise that illicit trade is raised as a concern by some stakeholders and some Member States. Lung Cancer Europe acknowledges this as a genuine policy challenge. The appropriate response is stronger cross-border enforcement and traceability, not reduced public health ambition.
Most EU Member States have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and committed to the MPOWER framework. Strengthening the Directive is consistent with those existing commitments. In Ireland, tobacco companies are already legally challenging an EU directive to ban characterising flavours in heated tobacco products. The regulatory environment is contested. Ambition must be maintained.
The consultation is open now
The EU consultation on revising the Tobacco Products Directive and Tobacco Advertising Directive closes on 15 June 2026. Progress in treatment and survival for lung cancer is real and it is welcome. Prevention remains the area where the greatest long-term gains are still available.
Protecting young people from targeted marketing and supporting people who smoke to quit are not separate agendas. They are the same agenda. The tobacco industry has understood for decades that young people are its future market. Regulation that interrupts that pipeline is both a youth protection measure and a long-term public health investment.
Lung Cancer Europe calls on EU institutions and Member States to use this opportunity.
Sources
WHO Europe. Tobacco fact sheet.
WHO (2023). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and tobacco.