Alarming Number of Individuals Now Vape, Warns Global Health Body
In excess of 100 hundred million users, featuring at bare minimum 15 million minors, now employ e-cigarettes, fueling a new surge of nicotine addiction, per current global public health reports.
Youth are, on average, nine times more prone than adults to use e-cigarettes, according to existing international statistics.
Electronic cigarettes are driving a "new wave" of nicotine addiction, commented a senior health representative. "These devices are promoted as damage limitation but, in reality, are hooking children on nicotine sooner and risk compromising generations of improvement."
Young People Being 'Aimed At'
"Millions of individuals are stopping, or not taking up tobacco use thanks to tobacco control initiatives by states across the world," the representative said.
"As a reaction to this substantial advancement, the tobacco sector is pushing back with novel nicotine items, actively focusing on adolescents. Governments must take action quicker and more vigorously in enacting tested tobacco-control policies," he added.
The vaping statistics are an approximation since some nations - 109 in all, and many in Africa and Asian regions - fail to collect information.
According to the report, as of this past February this year, at minimum 86 million e-cigarette individuals were grown-ups, mainly in high-income nations.
And at minimum 15 million youth aged 13 and 15 currently engage in vaping, based on surveys from 123 countries.
While several nations have tried to introduce e-cigarette rules to combat underage vaping in recent years, by the close of 2024, 62 states still had no regulation in operation, and 74 nations had no minimum age at which e-cigarettes may be acquired, states the health authority.
At the same time, tobacco consumption has been declining - from an approximated 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024.
Prevalence of tobacco consumption among women dropped the greatest - from 11% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2024.
For men, the drop was from 41.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2024.
But one in five of grown-ups globally still consumes tobacco.
Cigarette consumption is connected to numerous conditions, like cancer.
Experts say vaping is considerably less damaging than cigarettes, and can help you quit smoking. It is not recommended for non-smokers.
Electronic cigarettes eliminate burning tobacco and do not create resin or carbon monoxide, a pair of the most harmful elements in tobacco fumes. They contain nicotine, which can be addictive.
