World No-Tobacco Day 2026; May 31st.

FORUM: “Unmasking the appeal – countering tobacco and nicotine addiction”. World No-Tobacco Day 2026. The campaign calls on governments, partners, and civil society to strengthen regulation, close policy gaps, and safeguard future generations from the harms of tobacco and nicotine products. The 2026 campaign aims to: raise awareness of the tobacco and nicotine industry’s evolving strategies, including the use of synthetic nicotine, nicotine salts, and analogues to increase addiction potential while appearing technologically advanced; advocate for stronger policy action to protect youth through bans on flavours, advertising and promotion (including on digital and social media), and regulation of packaging and product design that increase appeal; and prevent addiction and reduce demand by equipping the public – especially youth – with the knowledge and tools to resist industry manipulation and access evidence-based cessation support. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WorldNoTobaccoDay; #31May; #TobaccoControl.

EVENTS: On Sunday May 31st, a webinar will be held to mark the World No-Tobacco Day 2026.This year's observance unites governments, health organizations, civil society, and youth voices under a shared mission: to end the tobacco epidemic and secure a tobacco- and nicotine-free future for the next generation. Register to participate!

Webinar: Exposing industry tactics behind nicotine pouch expansion and the regulatory implications.

On May 28th, 2026, from 13:00 – 14:00 CET; Ahead of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2026, the WHO will host an online event exposing the tactics and strategies driving the market growth of nicotine pouches, which continue to lure adolescents and young adults into nicotine addiction. This event aligns closely with the theme of the 2026 WNTD, ‘Unmask the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction’ but will focus on nicotine pouches, which are becoming increasingly popular, with strong youth appeal and high addiction potential. Children and young people are aggressively targeted with flavours, sleek packaging, digital marketing, social media promotion, influencer marketing and sponsorships of youth-oriented events, which position nicotine pouches as lifestyle products, rather than addictive and harmful. This webinar will include highlights from WHO’s first global report on nicotine pouches and reveal how nicotine pouches are often marketed as cool, discreet and “tobacco-free”, spreading across countries so fast that regulation often lags behind. It will bring together different perspectives to unmask the appeal and marketing of nicotine pouches, share experiences associated with regulating these products and protecting the public – particularly, youth and non-users – from nicotine addiction and draw attention as to why urgent and coordinated action is needed.

This event will equip participants with new knowledge on nicotine pouches, and serves as a call for:

• governments – where not banned, to otherwise regulate nicotine pouches within comprehensive tobacco control frameworks, close loopholes, and prioritise public health over commercial interests;
• civil society organisations - to hold the industry accountable, advocate for strong policies, and amplify credible public health messaging;
• youth and youth organisations – to recognize and resist industry tactics that specifically target them and to protect their right to health; and
• other stakeholders – to stay informed of the tactics of tobacco and nicotine industries, and press for evidence-based policies to safeguard public health.

Urgent, coordinated and sustained action is necessary to safeguard current and future generations from nicotine addiction. The webinar will be held in English with interpretation provided in Arabic, French and Spanish. Everyone is welcome - questions can be posed online, on the registration page. Register here

Call for nominations of the WHO World No Tobacco Day 2026 awards.The WHO headquarters will announce the awardees, 5 days before WNTD.

Message from Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on World No-Tobacco Day 2026; May 31st.

Today, May 31st, the Pan-american Health Organization Paro joins the global call for world no tobacco day under the slogan and masking the appeal countering tobacco and nicotine following decades of progressively in cutting in tobacco use tobacco and related industry continue to adapt their strategies. They aggressively marketing new products like e cigarettes and nicotine pouches of brand innovation to attract children adolescents and young people and get them hooked. The younger person starts the greater the risk of addition. Young people are particularly vulnerable as their brain are still developing and adapt quickly to nicotine even at low levels of exposure.
That's why this industry marketing strategies target young people. An estimated 2.6 million adolescents aged 13 to 15 smoke cigarettes in the region of the Americas and 2 million use cigarettes this levels of consumption are serious public health concern pares member states to take urgent and decisive action to protect their populations including through comprehensive policies burning all forms of advertising promotion and sponsorship reduction in affordability and features tobacco nicotine products more to adolescent people today. We must work together to protect children and young people
from the interest of the tobacco industry and it is affiliate so that we can build the generation for tobacco is a of the past Americas.

PAHO Director-General.

GET INVOLVED!  Join us in unmasking the appeal!

PUBLICATIONS:  Read the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2025: warning about the dangers of tobacco and the WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000–2024 and projections 2025–2030