3 November 2022 | In 2002, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean teamed up with former footballer Mahmoud El Khatib from Egypt and former cricketer Imran Khan from Pakistan on the Tobacco-free sports: Towards a tobacco-free generation campaign. The key messages of this campaign were:

Tobacco and sports do not mix.

Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Prohibit tobacco consumption and exposure to second-hand smoke.

Protect future generations from the preventable death and disease caused by tobacco.

Implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to save lives.

Health and healthy living is everyone’s right.

Now, in 2022, WHO and the State of Qatar have teamed up with FIFA on the Healthy 2022 World Cup project. Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ from 21 November to 18 December 2022.

The project aims to ensure the tournament will be a healthy and safe event and that the measures implemented and lessons learned will support the delivery of healthy and safe mega sporting events in the future. The objectives of the project are to ensure both the delivery and legacy of a healthy and safe FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ by setting the event as an impactful, sustainable and lasting model that promotes integration of health, security and wellbeing for future mega sport events. The main pillars that the Healthy FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ project focus on are:

supporting people to practice healthy lifestyles, including through physical activity, healthy diets and tobacco cessation and control;

promoting health security, with a focus on ensuring mass gatherings and events are safe; and

advocacy and awareness-raising for health.

Tobacco cessation and control

Providing options for people to lead healthy lives is at the heart of health promotion, including through tobacco cessation and control, which is a priority of the Healthy FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ project. The project will promote ways for people to be able to quit tobacco, raise awareness of the importance of tobacco cessation, and show how tobacco cessation and control is beneficial to people’s health.

Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions. Every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use. Most tobacco-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, which are often targets of intensive tobacco industry interference and marketing.

Tobacco can also be deadly for non-smokers. Second-hand smoke exposure has also been implicated in adverse health outcomes, causing 1.2 million deaths annually. Nearly half of all children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke and 65 000 children die each year due to illnesses related to second-hand smoke.

Heated tobacco products contain tobacco and expose users to toxic emissions, many of which cause cancer and are harmful to health. Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, do not contain tobacco and may or may not contain nicotine, but are harmful to health and undoubtedly unsafe.

Quit with Florence

Florence is WHO’s digital health worker to help you quit tobacco. After a short conversation via video or text, Florence can help you build your confidence to quit smoking, make a plan, and recommend toll-free quitlines or apps. Speak to Florence to quit tobacco today. Tell your friends, family and co-workers about her. Florence also speaks Arabic, English, French, and other languages.

Quitting toolkit

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 users double their chances of quitting successfully. You are losing a lot more than you think by using tobacco – your health, the health of your family and loved ones, the money you are spending, your looks, and so much more. Quitters are truly winners. Get tips from the Quitting Toolkit and start your journey today!

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