UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (UPI) -- Use of non-cigarette tobacco products is spreading rapidly, including among adolescents, the World Health Organization warns.
"Tobacco can kill in any guise, regardless of whether you smoke it, chew it or inhale it through a water pipe, and that is why all products containing tobacco need to be regulated immediately, in all forms, worldwide," said Yumiko Mochizuki-Kobayashi, director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative.
"We are faced with a unique public health challenge, as many tobacco products remain unregulated," she added.
The Geneva-based WHO statement marked this year's World No Tobacco Day. Its theme, "Tobacco: Deadly in any form or disguise," aims to focus attention on the harmful effects of tobacco products, regardless of their packaging.
The variety of tobacco products manufactured and marketed worldwide has outpaced educational and regulatory efforts, the agency said. Flavored, "organic" and roll-your-own cigarettes have been popular among groups that are more likely to avoid traditional cigarettes, the agency said, including women and young people. At the same time, forms of non-cigarette smoking, such as water pipes, are gaining wider acceptance, especially among young people.
A joint survey by WHO and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that among adolescents in many countries the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes is actually more prevalent than that of cigarettes. In addition, adolescent girls are reporting similar rates of tobacco use to adolescent boys, a shift from a longstanding trend among adults that show higher rates for males than females.
