Remarks of Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific at the World Health Summit 2024 - Regional Meeting

Honourable Assistant Minister Kearney, Honourable Minister Gaafar Uherbelau, Dr Hong, Ms Ofeina Filimoehala, distinguished participants and partners:

Good morning. Today, I address a pressing issue that demands our immediate attention and action: the alarming uptake of e-cigarette use among our youth.

This trend is not accidental. It is driven by the tobacco and e-cigarette industries' intentional and targeted marketing strategies. They employ a range of tactics that appeal directly to children and adolescents, including flooding the market with a vast variety of enticing flavours, promoting devices that are stylish and discreet, and leveraging social media influencers to present e-cigarette use as trendy and desirable.

As a direct result, our Region has seen a surge in e-cigarette usage among youth.

As national leaders, as community leaders, as global health leaders, we must respond with urgency and determination.

Our efforts must be informed by three facts:

First, e-cigarettes are harmful, containing and releasing a mix of toxic substances, sometimes at levels higher than in tobacco smoke. Some of these are carcinogenic and pose serious health risks, from lung disorders to poisoning and injuries, to negative effects on cardiovascular health.

Second, e-cigarettes are addictive. They usually contain nicotine and, again, sometimes in amounts higher than in conventional cigarettes. Young people are highly susceptible to nicotine addiction, which can adversely affect the brain development of children and adolescents.

And finally, e-cigarettes, as used in the real world, have not been proven to be effective for smoking cessation at the population level. WHO does not recommend that governments permit sale of e-cigarettes as consumer products in pursuit of a cessation objective.

Harmful, addictive, and not proven to be effective for smoking cessation. These are the facts. And yet, e-cigarette use among adolescents often exceeds adult use in many countries.

In 2019, Member States in our Region endorsed a ten-year Regional Action Plan for tobacco control. In recognition of the threat to our communities from rising e-cigarette use, a key objective in this Action Plan was for Member States to ban or regulate e-cigarettes and other emerging tobacco products.

That vision has not yet become a reality. Instead, tobacco and related industries have exponentially grown their market, while regulatory responses to the e-cigarette landscape have lagged, leaving our youth vulnerable to these enticing yet harmful products.

Currently, in our Region, only six of our 27 Member States have banned sales of e-cigarettes. Eleven other Member States in the Western Pacific regulate e-cigarettes in some way, but regulations in many of these countries need to be further strengthened.

Today I speak to you both as the WHO regional director and as a concerned parent. I strongly urge policymakers and public health advocates in the Western Pacific Region to intensify their efforts to control e-cigarettes in conjunction with a comprehensive approach to tobacco control.

To promote the health and well-being of our families, communities, and societies, we must act to prevent our future generations from being hooked on these harmful products.

As I mentioned to you yesterday morning, I have been meeting with health officials, community leaders and government officials throughout the region to discuss our vision for making the region one of the healthiest and safest. A key component is the idea of grounding our efforts in the lessons learned in each corner of our region, from the smallest village to the largest city. The idea is to bring together our various skills, experiences, and resources to weave a new environment for promoting health.

That is why this morning I am delighted to be joined by esteemed representatives from governmental bodies, academic institutions, and civil society organizations, to discuss their unique strategies and insights on tackling the issue of e-cigarettes. While the circumstances and obstacles vary across different regions, we all share one goal and need to work together, utilising the resources from each of us to protect our youth from these addictive and harmful products.

Let us seize this opportunity to collaborate, ensuring our children and future generations are safeguarded against e-cigarettes and protected from becoming the victims of the tobacco and related industries.

Thank you.