In June 2025, Geneva (Switzerland) based World Health Organization (WHO) released a report titled, “Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025: Warning about the dangers of Tobacco”, at the World Conference on Tobacco control (WCTC), held in Dublin, Ireland.
- According to the report, 6.1 billion people, over 75% of the world’s population, are now protected by at least one of the Monitor, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforce, Raise (MPOWER) measures, compared to 1 billion in 2007.
- The report, developed by WHO with support from New York, United States of America (USA) based Bloomberg Philanthropies.
About Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report:
i.The 10th WHO report on global tobacco epidemic tracks the progress made by countries in tobacco control since 2008.
- The 2025 report is accompanied by an innovative online data portal that enables users to track country-by-country progress from 2007 to 2025.
ii.The MPOWER technical package was designed to help countries adopt the demand-reduction measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
iii.The 2025 report focuses on the ‘W measure(warn about the dangers of tobacco) which focuses on educating the public about the dangers of tobacco through pack labels and mass media campaigns.
Highlights of the Report:
i.The report focuses on the six proven WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use, which claims over 7 million a year:
- Monitoring tobacco uses and prevention policies
- Protecting People from tobacco smoke with smoke-free air legislation
- Offering help to quit tobacco use
- Warning about the dangers of tobacco with pack labels and mass media
- Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
- Raising taxes on tobacco
ii.Since 2007, 155 countries have implemented at least one MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use at best-practice level.
- Four countries, Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands, and Turkey have implemented the full MPOWER package
- Seven countries, Ethiopia, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, the New Zealand, Slovenia, and Spain are one measure away from achieving the full implementation of the MPOWER package, signifying the highest level of tobacco control.
iii.The report indicates a major gap, with 40 countries have no MPOWER measure at best-practice level and more than 30 countries allow cigarette sales without mandatory health warnings.
- Only 33% of the global population has access to cost-covered cessation services
- 3 countries have raised tobacco taxes to recommended levels since 2022.
iv.The report reveals that the most striking gains have been in graphic health warnings, one of the key measures under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), that makes the harm of tobacco impossible to ignore
- 110 countries now mandate them (up from 9 in 2007), covering 62% of the global population
- 25 countries have adopted plain packaging laws
- Additionally, 110 countries have not run anti-tobacco campaigns since 2022.
- 79 countries have enacted comprehensive smoke-free laws, including new adopters since 2022 as Indonesia, Malaysia, Slovenia and Uzbekistan.
v.Approximately 1.3 million deaths annually are due to second-hand smoke.
vi.The growing prevalence of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) has prompted increased scrutiny, 133 countries now regulate or ban ENDS, up from 122 in 2022. However, over 60 have no regulations in place.
India Recognized for Best-Practice Tobacco Control:
i.According to the report, India is among the countries identified as having best-practice-level graphic health warning labels in 2024.
ii.On the ˋW’ measure, India has been in the highest group since 2016. On the ‘E’ measure( Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship), India has banned direct and indirect tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships.
iii.Tobacco taxation remains the least implemented MPOWER measure in India, highlighting a key gap in national tobacco control policy.
2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for Tobacco Control:
i.India was recognised among six countries to receive the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control for its focused efforts in promoting tobacco cessation across the country.
- Other recipient countries included Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Philippines, and Ukraine.
ii.The award was presented to the National Tobacco Control Cell, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India(GoI).
iii.India received the award under the ‘O’ category of the MPOWER strategy, which stands for Offering help to quit tobacco use. The country was recognised for implementing comprehensive cessation approaches aimed at reaching a wide population of tobacco users.
Tobacco Control Measures in India:
i.India has enforced stringent restrictions on Tobacco Advertising, Promotion, and Sponsorship (TAPS) across all forms of media.
ii.To address tobacco portrayal in entertainment, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) introduced the Tobacco-Free Films and Television Rules, 2012, mandating anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers in films and television content. – reframe it in simple words in 2 lines
iii.In a significant update, in 2023, the government amended the 2012 rules to bring Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming platforms under its ambit.
- With this amendment, India became the first country globally to implement tobacco control regulations specifically for digital streaming content.
About World Health Organization (WHO):
Director General (DG) – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
Established – 1948
About Ireland:
President – Michael Daniel Higgins
Capital – Dublin
Currency – Euro(EUR)
