The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on African governments to strengthen tobacco control laws and protect public health policies from industry influence, warning that tobacco and nicotine companies are increasingly targeting children and young people across the continent with products designed to foster addiction.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, raised the concern in a message marking World No Tobacco Day 2026, cautioning that decades of progress in reducing tobacco use across Africa could be undermined by aggressive marketing tactics and the growing popularity of emerging nicotine products.

Janabi said governments must act urgently because Africa’s youthful population is particularly vulnerable to industry tactics designed to recruit new users and create long-term dependence.

According to WHO, more than 60 percent of Africa’s population is under the age of 25, while nearly nine out of every 10 adults who smoke daily began using tobacco before the age of 18.

“Nicotine addiction is not accidental; it is engineered,” Janabi said.

He warned that manufacturers are increasingly using flavours, sweeteners, menthol, acids and artificial cooling agents to make tobacco and nicotine products more attractive to first-time users, particularly adolescents.

“Today’s tobacco and nicotine products are deliberately designed to encourage use, increase dependence and perpetuate addiction, particularly among young people,” he said.

The WHO Regional Director noted that while Africa remains one of the regions with the lowest tobacco-use prevalence globally and several countries are on course to meet international tobacco-reduction targets, those gains are under threat from sophisticated marketing strategies, emerging nicotine products and industry interference in policymaking.

He said young people are especially susceptible because their brains are still developing and adapt rapidly to nicotine exposure, increasing the likelihood of long-term addiction.

Janabi also rejected claims that newer products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches are safer alternatives, stressing that all tobacco and nicotine products carry health risks.

“There is no such thing as safe tobacco use or a safe level of non-therapeutic nicotine exposure,” he said.

He added that even smoking one cigarette a day significantly increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, while the use of multiple nicotine products heightens exposure to harmful substances and makes quitting more difficult.

To prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine, Janabi called on African governments to strengthen tobacco control laws, ban flavours and additives that attract young users, regulate product design and packaging, close regulatory loopholes and protect public health policies from tobacco industry influence.

“The industry that engineered the addiction and profited from it for decades cannot be permitted to influence public health solutions,” he said.

Janabi maintained that prevention remains the most effective and cost-efficient approach, urging governments, lawmakers, regulators, civil society organisations, educators and parents to work together to protect future generations from nicotine addiction. (The Nation)