Worrying Number of Users Now Vape, Warns Global Health Body
More than 100 million individuals, including at bare minimum 15 million youth, currently employ e-cigarettes, fueling a fresh surge of nicotine habit, per current worldwide medical data.
Youth are, typically, nine times more likely than mature individuals to engage in vaping, based on available worldwide data.
E-cigarettes are fueling a "fresh wave" of nicotine dependency, stated a leading health expert. "They are promoted as damage limitation but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine at younger ages and threaten compromising decades of improvement."
Teens Being 'Aimed At'
"Countless of citizens are stopping, or not taking up tobacco use due to tobacco restriction measures by countries around the globe," the official stated.
"As an answer to this significant advancement, the tobacco business is resisting with new nicotine devices, actively aiming at adolescents. Authorities must take action quicker and more vigorously in enacting established tobacco-control measures," he continued.
The e-cigarette figures are a projection since several countries - 109 in all, and numerous in Africa and South-East Asia - do not gather statistics.
According to the report, as of recent February this period, at bare minimum 86 million e-cigarette users were mature individuals, mostly in wealthy nations.
And at least 15 million adolescents aged 13 and 15 presently engage in vaping, based on surveys from 123 states.
Although many nations have tried to implement e-cigarette rules to address underage vaping in recent years, by the close of 2024, 62 countries still had no regulation in operation, and 74 states had no age restriction at which e-cigarettes may be bought, reports the public health organization.
At the same time, tobacco usage has been decreasing - from an estimated 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024.
Frequency of tobacco usage among women decreased the greatest - from 11% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2024.
For males, the drop was from 41.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2024.
But one in five of adults globally yet consumes tobacco.
Smoking is connected to several diseases, like cancer.
Specialists say vaping is considerably less dangerous than cigarettes, and can help you quit smoking. It is not recommended for those who don't smoke.
Vaping devices eliminate burning tobacco and avoid generating tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most dangerous components in tobacco fumes. They have nicotine, which might be dependency-creating.
