Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention
We advance health for all by working with governments and partners to address the social determinants of health and the major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. Through leadership, multisectoral collaboration and evidence-based guidance, we tackle the root causes of NCDs and injuries and provide specialized technical assistance to support policies and programmes that create healthier, more equitable societies.

Health topics

Tobacco
WHO / Blink Media - Francesca Volpi
Children participate in an anti-tobacco workshop called "Agent 00 Cigarettes, LILT Mission." The workshop is part of a campaign by LILT (Italian League For The Fight Against Cancer) to educate kids about the dangers of smoking.
© Credits
Tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco products are products made entirely or partly of leaf tobacco as raw material, which are intended to be smoked, sucked, chewed or snuffed. All contain the highly addictive psychoactive ingredient, nicotine.

Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including cancer, lung diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Despite this, it is common throughout the world. A number of countries have legislation restricting tobacco advertising, and regulating who can buy and use tobacco products, and where people can smoke.

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Tobacco and infertility
8 September 2026

Tobacco and infertility

This document is the twelfth in a series of Tobacco Knowledge Summaries and is prepared with the objective to summarize the current evidence on the association...

Status of tobacco production and trade in Africa, 2nd ed.

Tobacco growing is damaging the environment and threatening health. As regulations tighten in middle- and high-income countries, tobacco companies are...

Exposing marketing tactics and strategies driving the global growth of nicotine pouches

This new report aims to help countries understand how the tobacco industry promotes nicotine pouches and how they can be effectively regulated. It highlights...

This WHO technical manual on tobacco tax policy and administration builds upon the 2010 WHO technical manual on tobacco tax administration by further detailing...

Documents

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The background information document on the call to action on electronic cigarettes is an accompanying document to call to action on electronic cigarettes...

Electronic cigarettes - call to action

This call to action on e-cigarettes notes that urgent and strong decisive action to prevent uptake of e-cigarettes, which are harmful to health, should...

Quitting tobacco and related products is hard, but with the right support and tools, you can do it! With professional support and quitting services, tobacco...