KATHMANDU, June 2: Experts have warned that failing to protect children from addiction to tobacco products in various forms could have dire consequences. They issued the warning on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on Friday.
According to the National Health Education, Information, and Communication Center (NHEICC), the involvement of children in both the production and use of tobacco products is on the rise.
Dr Bhakta Bahadur KC, information officer of the NHEICC, reported that children and adolescents are increasingly using e-cigarettes (vapes) and hookahs under the pretext of quitting smoking. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey indicates that in 2022, 37 million children aged 13 to 15 years worldwide were tobacco users.
A similar survey conducted in Nepal in 2013 found that 18 percent of children in the same age group used some form of tobacco. This number is likely higher now, as there has been no subsequent survey focusing solely on children in Nepal since 2013.
The 2019 STEPS survey revealed that 28.9 percent, or 3 million people aged 15 to 69 years in Nepal, use tobacco. This age group consumes various tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and gutkha (chewing tobacco).
Tobacco use on the rise in Nepal, 34.1% of population addicted
Tobacco companies have been targeting children and teenagers with deceptive advertisements for hookahs, e-cigarettes, and gutkha, leading to increased attraction among the younger generation, according to KC.
"E-cigarettes and hookahs are marketed as aids for quitting smoking and come in many flavors, which quickly attract children and teenagers," he explained.
Manufacturers use social media to advertise and lure the younger generation into trying new forms of tobacco. Initially, users may succumb to peer pressure, leading to addiction that is difficult to overcome.
Dr Gampo Dorje, the Non-Communicable and Mental Health Team Leader for the World Health Organization in Nepal, noted that a disease called 'EVALI' (E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury) is spreading among e-cigarette users. This disease causes difficulty in breathing, chest pain, and coughing.
Dorje highlighted that in 2020, a total of 68 out of 2,800 people hospitalized with EVALI died, all under 18 years of age. Globally, tobacco use causes 8 million deaths annually, with 39,000 of these in Nepal. Additionally, 1.2 million people are affected by smoking and other tobacco products.
Children are particularly susceptible to e-cigarette addiction due to misconceptions and attractive advertising. "There's a false belief that e-cigarettes are nicotine-free, but they do contain nicotine," KC said. "Children cannot distinguish right from wrong and fall for appealing propaganda. E-cigarettes contain harmful substances such as metals, nickel, and lead."
Dr Dorje added that nicotine in e-cigarettes hampers brain development, weakens the lungs, causes respiratory issues, and can eventually lead to lung cancer.
Moreover, children are often involved in tobacco production, suffering from green tobacco sickness, which causes symptoms like vomiting and fainting.
Despite bans on e-cigarettes in 35 countries, including Nepal, young people continue to get addicted. Although the Government of Nepal has been attempting to control tobacco products for a long time, progress has been limited, according to KC.
Furthermore, Nepal has not met the World Health Organization's standard of increasing taxes on tobacco products by 75 percent.
