The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments to prohibit flavours and additives, including menthol, in tobacco and nicotine products in order to shield children and young people from addiction.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, made the appeal in a statement released on Sunday to mark World No Tobacco Day, themed “Unmasking the Appeal: Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction.”
Janabi warned that rapid changes in the tobacco and nicotine market were undermining decades of public health progress across Africa and exposing young people to unprecedented risks.
He said nicotine addiction was “engineered, not accidental,” driven by deliberate industry strategies designed to attract users early in life and sustain lifelong dependence.
According to him, the theme exposes industry tactics that rely on sugars, menthol, acids and cooling agents to disguise nicotine’s harshness and make products more attractive to first-time users.
He called on African Member States to strengthen regulations aimed at reducing the addictiveness, appeal and accessibility of tobacco and nicotine products, especially among those under 25 years of age.
Janabi noted that the appeal came at a time when Africa’s tobacco control achievements were being threatened by the rise of new products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco devices, nicotine pouches and similar substances.
“In spite of many countries ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and reducing tobacco use through taxes, smoke-free laws and pictorial warnings, aggressive marketing and regulatory loopholes are undermining progress,” he said.
He added that young people remained highly vulnerable because the adolescent brain responds quickly to nicotine exposure.
“With more than 60 per cent of Africa’s population under the age of 25, failing to act decisively will have profound and long-lasting consequences,” he said.
“Prevention through comprehensive policy action is more effective and equitable than treating addiction after it takes hold,” he added.
The regional director said the tobacco industry’s objective had remained unchanged: to recruit new users, replace those lost through quitting or death, and secure lifelong profits.
“What has changed is how addiction is engineered,” he said.
According to Janabi, modern tobacco and nicotine products are deliberately designed to encourage consumption and deepen dependence, with features informed by behavioural and neurological research.
“By adding sugars, flavours, menthol, acids and artificial cooling agents, manufacturers mask the harshness of nicotine, making products easier to inhale for first-time users,” he said.
“Many products also allow users to adjust nicotine strength or delivery, enabling them to inhale more nicotine and other harmful substances without realising it.”
“These design strategies accelerate the path from experimentation to dependence, particularly among adolescents whose brains are still developing,” he added.
Janabi warned that even low levels of nicotine exposure could result in strong addiction, impaired brain development and increased risk of long-term dependence.
He cited evidence showing that nearly nine in 10 adults who smoke daily began smoking before the age of 18, making adolescents key targets of industry marketing.
According to him, companies use flavoured products, colourful packaging, digital advertising, influencer promotions and misleading harm-reduction claims to normalise nicotine use and present it as fashionable or harmless.
“There is no safe tobacco use or safe level of non-therapeutic nicotine exposure,” he said.
Janabi stressed that all tobacco and nicotine products including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, waterpipes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches—are harmful and addictive.
“Even smoking one cigarette a day significantly increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Using more than one product increases toxic exposure and makes quitting harder,” he said.
“Nicotine does not relieve stress; it creates it.”
“The temporary relaxation users feel is merely relief from withdrawal symptoms, which reinforces addiction and harms mental well-being over time,” he added.
He also warned that children face additional dangers, as even small amounts of nicotine can cause serious poisoning, while accidental exposure to nicotine pouches and liquids is an emerging but preventable risk.
Janabi, however, noted that quitting tobacco use produces immediate health benefits.
“Within minutes, heart rate and blood pressure drop; within weeks, circulation and lung function improve; and within a year, the excess risk of heart disease is halved,” he said.
He urged governments to close regulatory loopholes, strengthen product design and packaging rules, and consider reducing nicotine content to non-addictive levels in line with WHO recommendations.
He further called for protection of health policies from tobacco industry interference, in line with Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“Central to all efforts is protecting health policy from tobacco industry interference, because the industry that engineered addiction cannot be permitted to influence public health solutions,” he said.
