Manipulation Behind the Tobacco Industry's 'Harm Reduction'
The World Health Organization (WHO) has adopted the theme ‘Unmasking Industry Manipulation: Fighting Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction’ for World No Tobacco Day 2026. Public health advocates across Southeast Asia accuse the tobacco industry of increasingly aggressive use of digital marketing and false ‘harm reduction’ narratives to attract younger generations.
Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), stated that the concept of harm reduction should aim to protect public safety, not replace one danger with another. He added that the tobacco industry is now aggressively using digital marketing and deceptive harm reduction narratives to lure youth.
‘Harm reduction should genuinely safeguard people, not substitute one hazard for another,’ Dorotheo said in a press release published on Friday, 29 May 2026.
He argued that if tobacco companies truly desired a smoke-free future, they should have ceased production and sales long ago. However, the industry is instead co-opting public health narratives to market new products that remain addictive and toxic.
‘It is hypocritical to present themselves as a ’solution’ to the very problems they created. This must end, and all tobacco products need to be removed as soon as possible,’ Dorotheo said.
On World No Tobacco Day this year, SEATCA, alongside several Southeast Asian health organisations, launched a joint campaign to push for an endgame approach to all nicotine products. This includes conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and nicotine pouches.
The coalition includes Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Philippines, ASH Thailand, Cambodia Movement for Health (CMH), HealthBridge Vietnam, HealthJustice Philippines, Ruang Kebijakan Kesehatan Indonesia (RUKKI), and People’s Health Foundation (PHF) Myanmar.
SEATCA noted that eight ASEAN member states currently maintain bans on e-cigarette sales and imports: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
However, these countries still face aggressive cross-border digital marketing by the tobacco industry, health advocates argue. They state that public protection will remain ineffective while regulatory loopholes allow the industry to sell and promote nicotine products online.
Therefore, the coalition urges ASEAN governments to implement nicotine endgame policies — long-term strategies to phase out all commercial nicotine products to protect young people.
‘History teaches us that legal does not mean safe. Many once-common products, such as lead and ivory, are now banned due to proven harm. The same principle should apply to commercial nicotine products,’ said Dr U Than Sein of the People’s Health Foundation (PHF).
The coalition also highlighted the rapid growth of tobacco and nicotine products, which they say are triggering a new addiction crisis among Southeast Asian youth. With modern-tech packaging and aggressive digital marketing, these products are deliberately designed to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.
Through thousands of flavour variants such as fruit and dessert, the industry is creating physical dependence under the guise of ‘harm reduction’, threatening decades of tobacco control progress in Southeast Asia.