On 31 May, the world turns its attention to an issue of global scale: the consumption of tobacco products. Every year on World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the dangers of tobacco use - primarily smoking - and the tactics of the tobacco industry. In 2026, this date carries particular significance: the European Commission has reviewed its legal framework for tobacco control and announced reforms. To understand why this day is so important today, it is worth first taking a look at its origins.
World No Tobacco Day: The long road to a smoke-free world
When the WHO adopted Resolution WHA40.38 at its 40th World Health Assembly in 1987, it sent a clear signal: the tobacco epidemic requires global attention. One year later, on 7 April 1988, the first World No Tobacco Day took place - under the motto “Tobacco or Health: Choose Health!” people around the world were encouraged to refrain from using tobacco products for at least 24 hours and quit smoking.
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"Tobacco or Health. Choose Health" slogan of the first World No Tobacco Day in 1988 - © Image: World Health Organization |
The extensive media coverage that followed prompted political and health education initiatives at the international level. For example, in Ethiopia, smoking in public places was banned on the occasion of the first World No Tobacco Day. In Nepal, public cigarette-burning ceremonies were held; in Cuba, the state sale of tobacco products was suspended for 24 hours; and in Lebanon, government health messages were broadcast on the radio.
The second World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 1989 focused specifically on women. The slogan at the time, “Women and tobacco - The female smoker. A higher risk”, highlighted the increased risk of lung cancer caused by smoking. In the lead-up to the event, the WHO asked all major organizations to declare their offices smoke-free zones on World No Tobacco Day. The fact that World No Tobacco Day has since become a fixed date in the calendar is due in large part to the positive response of countries to this initiative.
Why World No Tobacco Day is more important today than ever
The developments of the following decades make it clear that the need for education and prevention remains high, as tobacco use is still one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. In 1989, the WHO estimated the number of premature deaths caused by tobacco products at around 2.5 million per year.*1 The toll in 2026 is shocking: more than eight million people worldwide die each year as a result of the tobacco epidemic – more than three times as many as nearly forty years ago. Secondhand smoke is also linked to health problems and causes 1.2 million deaths worldwide every year.*2
The World Health Organization is recording particularly alarming trends among young people. Around four million adolescents aged 13 to 15 use tobacco products.*3 The high prevalence of cigarette and tobacco use among young people is largely due to the profit-driven strategies of the tobacco industry – including misleading marketing – as well as a rapidly changing market. Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, emphasizes:
“European tobacco regulations have led to a decline in smoking and saved lives. But the market is changing rapidly. Novel tobacco and nicotine products carry an addiction risk for the younger generation, especially through attractive designs and covert online marketing (…)”*4
Novel tobacco and nicotine products undoubtedly deserve special attention. However, the key question is: is every nicotine product the same? The example of the nicotine compound Nicotine Polacrilex shows that not all products should be assessed in the same way. Compared to many other forms of nicotine, this compound allows for slower and more controlled nicotine absorption. This can help specifically relieve withdrawal symptoms and make quitting smoking easier.
World No Tobacco Day 2026: These topics are in focus
World No Tobacco Day 2026 also addresses the dangers of the tobacco industry’s marketing efforts on digital platforms. Under the motto “Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction” (international: “Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction”), 2026 aims to show how manufacturers use targeted online marketing and attractive product packaging to win over new consumers, especially adolescents and young adults. The World No Tobacco Day 2026 campaign pursues three closely interconnected goals:
- Raising public awareness of the tobacco industry’s strategies, such as covert online advertising and misleading marketing tactics.
- Advocating for stricter tobacco control measures worldwide, including bans on advertising and sales promotion as well as regulations on packaging and product design.
- Reducing demand and preventing addiction by informing the public — especially young people — about manufacturers' tactics, while also supporting them in quitting smoking.
| World No Tobacco Day 2026 motto - © Image: World Health Organization |
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Building on last year's campaign, the WHO aims in 2026 to push forward policy measures that effectively protect young people from starting to smoke and combat tobacco and nicotine addiction. To achieve this, it is calling on governments worldwide to tighten the regulation of tobacco products. A look at Brussels shows that this appeal is not going unheard: the European Commission has announced a fundamental revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.
Each year, World No Tobacco Day has a different motto. Read here which message the WHO is placing at the center in 2025:
Is all nicotine equally addictive?
While policymakers debate regulation, it's worth taking a closer look at the science: Is all nicotine equally addictive? The answer depends largely on the absorption speed of the different forms of nicotine in Snus — such as nicotine salt, freebase nicotine, or resinat — and on how differently they act in the body.
Revision of the Tobacco Products Directive
The impetus for the planned reform came from the Commission's evaluation report on the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2), published in April 2026. It examined in depth the effectiveness, relevance, and efficiency of the Tobacco Advertising Directive as well as the EU rules for protecting public health. The result was mixed. On the one hand, the Commission recorded a positive trend, as the smoking rate in the EU had fallen from 28% to 24% since 2012.*5 On the other hand, the assessment reveals clear gaps, especially when it comes to online advertising. While traditional media advertising has largely been pushed back by existing regulations, digital advertising remains a challenge due to its covert nature.
The consequence: Based on this evaluation, the Commission will present a reform proposal – the so-called TPD3. The revised directive is intended not only to close loopholes in digital advertising, but also to cover novel tobacco and nicotine products for the first time. It must also take technological change and the rapid shifts in the market into account. Whether this will bring the EU’s ambitious goal of a “smoke-free” generation by 2040 any closer – by then, fewer than five percent of the population should still consume tobacco – remains to be seen.
So far, Sweden has shown that this goal is not a utopia. As the only EU country to date, it has already reached the threshold of fewer than five percent smokers – and well ahead of the 2040 target date set by the EU.
To achieve this, Sweden relies on a consistent harm reduction strategy: Instead of imposing bans, consumers are offered less harmful alternatives such as Snus, Nicotine Pouches, or e-cigarettes. The goal of harm reduction is to lower health risks and make it easier to overcome tobacco addiction.
