The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised alarm over persistent weaknesses in global tobacco control, despite more than 6.1 billion people now being covered by at least one of its flagship anti-tobacco measures.
In its latest Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report, released Tuesday during the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, WHO noted that while the number of protected individuals has grown sixfold since 2007, many governments are falling short on full enforcement–and 40 countries still lack any best-practice tobacco control measure.
“Twenty years since the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we have many successes to celebrate, but the tobacco industry continues to evolve and so must we,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Together, we can end the tobacco epidemic.”
The report focuses on the MPOWER strategy, a six-pronged approach launched in 2007 to help countries implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The measures include:
- Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies
- Protecting people from second-hand smoke
- Offering help to quit
- Warning about tobacco’s dangers
- Enforcing advertising and sponsorship bans
- Raising tobacco taxes
Only four countries–Brazil, Mauritius, Türkiye, and the Netherlands–have implemented all six MPOWER measures at the highest level.
Another seven, including Ethiopia, Mexico, and New Zealand, are one step away.
Graphic health warnings have seen strong uptake, with 110 countries now mandating them, up from nine in 2007.
Plain packaging laws have also spread, with 25 countries adopting them to reduce product appeal–especially among youth.
But WHO warns of uneven progress. More than 30 countries still allow cigarettes to be sold without graphic health warnings.
Meanwhile, over 110 countries have not run any anti-tobacco mass media campaigns since 2022, even though such campaigns are proven to reduce smoking rates.
Taxation remains the weakest link. While raising taxes is considered the single most effective method to reduce tobacco use, 134 countries have failed to make cigarettes less affordable in recent years.
Only three countries have met best-practice tax levels since 2022.
Access to cessation services is also inadequate. Just a third of the world’s population has access to cost-covered help to quit smoking.
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Despite resistance from the hospitality industry and tobacco lobby, six countries–including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sierra Leone–have strengthened their smoke-free laws since 2022.
Meanwhile, regulation of e-cigarettes and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is slowly expanding.
By 2024, 133 countries had enacted some regulation, up from 122 in 2022. But over 60 nations still lack any controls, allowing these products to be aggressively marketed to young people.
Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, said: “Since Bloomberg Philanthropies started supporting global tobacco control efforts in 2007, there has been a sea change in the way countries prevent tobacco use, but there is still a long way to go.”
To improve transparency and accountability, WHO has launched an online data portal tracking MPOWER implementation from 2007 through 2025, allowing countries to monitor progress and identify areas needing action.
With tobacco killing more than 7 million people every year, WHO is urging countries to double down on enforcement, close loopholes, and reject interference from powerful tobacco interests.