Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Tokyo iconic “Skytree” tower lit up in special colors on Saturday to mark World No Tobacco Day and National No Tobacco Week. The Skytree was illuminated in yellow green, the symbolic color of passive smoking prevention.

World No Tobacco Day was established by the World Health Organization’s World Health Assembly in 1988, when the WHO called for a worldwide ban on all tobacco advertising and promotion.

Japan’s National No Tobacco Week runs from May 31 to June 6and was designated by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in support of awareness efforts led by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Medical Association.

According to Global Action to End Smoking, an estimated 18.6 million people (14.1 million males and 4.4 million females) aged 15 and older are tobacco users in Japan, the 10th most in the world. However, the demand for cigarettes reduced by 56 percent from 82.1 packs per capita in 2010 to 36.2 packs per capita in 2022.

Tobacco is responsible for around 140,000 deaths in Japan, which is about 23.7 percent of all deaths.

The WHO says an estimated 37 million children aged 13 to 15 use tobacco. “Every day, tobacco and nicotine industries use carefully engineered products and deceptive tactics to hook a new generation of users and keep existing ones,” it says.