The WHO said 88 countries do not have a minimum age from which e-cigarettes can be purchased and 74 countries have not implemented any regulations on e-cigarettes.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to increase prevention measures, saying “children are being recruited and trapped at a young age to use e-cigarettes and may become addicted to nicotine.”
Teenage users increase
Children aged 13 to 15 around the world use e-cigarettes at a higher rate than adults, according to WHO research, and in the UK the number of young users has tripled in the last three years.
The U.N. health agency said the products generate carcinogens, increase the risk of heart and lung disorders and can affect brain development.
The WHO also warned that the tobacco industry “funds and promotes false evidence” to argue that e-cigarettes reduce harm, while “heavily promoting these products to children and non-smokers and continuing to sell billions of cigarettes.”
Declining vaccination coverage leads to rise in measles in Europe and Central Asia: UNICEF
Measles, a vaccine-preventable disease that weakens children's immune systems and can be fatal, has increased a staggering 3,200 percent this year compared to last in Europe and Central Asia, the United Nations Fund said Thursday. for Children, UNICEF.
Some 30,600 cases have been confirmed in the region so far in 2023 and UNICEF warned that numbers are expected to rise further due to gaps in immunity as vaccination rates have declined.
“There is no clearer sign of a breakdown in immunization coverage than an increase in measles cases,” said UNICEF director for the region, Regina De Dominicis, calling for urgent public health measures to protect children from this dangerous disease.
The highest rates of measles cases in Europe and Central Asia were recorded in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Romania. An estimated 931,000 children in the region did not receive routine immunization in whole or in part between 2019 and 2021.
UNICEF highlighted that the immunization rate with the first dose of the measles vaccine fell from 96 percent in 2019 to 93 percent in 2022.
The UN agency attributes the drop in coverage to reduced demand for vaccines “partly fueled by misinformation and mistrust” during the COVID-19 pandemic, the disruption of health services and weak health systems. primary health care, among other factors.
Lebanese children forced to look for work as crisis continues
The impact of Lebanon's relentless and overlapping crises continues to worsen, increasingly depriving children of their education and forcing many into work, UNICEF warned on Thursday.
The children's agency said in a new survey based on data from last month that parents are simply struggling to stay afloat and having to make do with dwindling resources.
The analysis reveals further deterioration in almost all aspects of children's lives, as the four-year crisis stemming from the economic crisis, political unrest and the Beirut port explosion shows no signs of abating.
The agency said the emotional toll is particularly heavy in conflict-affected south Lebanon and among Palestinian children.
Eroded childhood
“This terrible crisis is eroding the childhoods of hundreds of thousands of children, through multiple crises not of their making,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon. “Its severity is crushing children's dreams and taking away their learning, their happiness and their future.”
More than a quarter of households said they had school-age children not attending school, up from 18 percent in April this year.
To make matters worse, several dozen schools in southern Lebanon have been closed since October due to an escalation of hostilities across the Israeli border, affecting more than 6,000 students.
Skyrocketing prices and widespread poverty continue to force families to take desperate measures just to afford one meal a day and basic housing.
Work, not school
The number of families sending their children to work to supplement household income rose to a surprising 16 percent, up from 11 percent in April.
More than eight in 10 households (84 percent) had to borrow money or buy on credit to purchase essential foods; that's an increase of 16 percent in six months, the survey indicates.
And more than eight in 10 families reduced spending on health treatments, down from 75 percent.
Deprivation and uncertainty are also taking a heavy toll on children's mental health: almost 4 in 10 households say their children are anxious and 24 per cent say they are depressed on a daily basis.
