Shifting gears in the fight against tobacco in the Western Pacific Region
MANILA, 20 October 2025 – Tobacco use remains one of the deadliest public health threats in the Western Pacific, killing more than 3 million people every year: one in five deaths across a Region covering 38 countries and areas. Despite decades of efforts to combat this scourge with significant progress on several fronts, more than one in five people still use tobacco products in this Region of over 2.2 billion people, and the industry continues to adapt with new tactics and products to keep profits flowing.
“Smoking remains the leading cause of tobacco-related deaths, but they are not the only danger,” said Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. “From conventional cigarettes to smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes, every product is designed to hook people into a lifetime of addiction, and every delay in stronger action costs health and lives. With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) the greatest health burden in our Region and globally, and with tobacco-related illness linked to a range of often-fatal illnesses from heart diseases to cancer, it’s critical that Member States gathering at our upcoming Regional Committee Meeting step up urgent action to deliver our shared commitments.”
Progress and Challenges
Data from WHO in the Western Pacific shows that many countries have advanced tobacco control laws, expanding smoke-free environments and strengthening packaging and labelling requirements on cigarette packs. Some, like Viet Nam, have introduced landmark tax reforms, while Pacific nations including Palau and the Cook Islands have banned e-cigarettes.
These measures, along with a number of others, are among WHO’s Best Buys – evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to decreasing the incidence and dangers of NCDs, including those that address key risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.
But progress has been uneven:
- Cigarettes and other tobacco products remain widely available and affordable in many countries.
- E-cigarettes and other new tobacco and nicotine products are gaining ground, particularly among children and youth.
- Tobacco taxation, the most cost-effective Best Buy intervention, is still underused.
- Industry interference continues to obstruct policies through lobbying; marketing, including to children and young persons; and outright disinformation.
- Enforcement gaps exist even when strong laws are in place, due to resource gaps and limited multisectoral collaboration.
Why it matters
The Western Pacific is home to over a quarter of the world’s population but nearly half of all global tobacco-related deaths. Unless countries accelerate action, most will fall short of the 2030 target of reducing tobacco use by 30% under the Regional Action Plan for Tobacco Control endorsed by the Member States in 2019.
Conventional products like cigarettes and smokeless tobacco continue to devastate health, also causing economic and environmental burdens. Meanwhile, new products often marketed as “less harmful” alternatives come in fruity flavours and sleek designs to appeal to younger people, creating a new generation of addicts.
Looking ahead
At the upcoming 76th WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, being held in Fiji from October 20 to 24, governments will come together to discuss how to close gaps and take decisive and urgent actions to achieve the 2030 target.
“Governments have powerful tools at their disposal, but they must use them,” said Dr Hiromasa Okayasu, Director of Health Promotion at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office. “Bold action now can prevent millions of premature deaths, sharply reduce healthcare costs, benefit the economy and create a tobacco-free generation across Asia and the Pacific.”
WHO remains committed to working with countries and partners to “weave health for all,” reflecting its regional vision that interlaces efforts, resources, and expertise to protect health, keep the Western Pacific safer, and serve the more than 2.2 billion people who live in this vast region.
For more on the 76th WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, visit:https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-76