Amid Rising Youth Nicotine Addiction, Health Ministry Rolls Out Anti-Tobacco App As Experts Flag Industry Influence

As concerns grow over the rising grip of tobacco and nicotine addiction among adolescents, the Union Health Ministry has launched a pilot digital platform aimed at strengthening tobacco-free norms across schools and colleges.

It also unveiled a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for scientific collection of tobacco product samples to improve regulatory enforcement.

The move assumes significance in the backdrop of findings from the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4), which underline the alarming extent of tobacco exposure among Indian adolescents.

According to the survey, 8.5% of school-going children aged 13-15 years in India consume tobacco in some form. Tobacco use among boys stands at 9.6%, while among girls it is 7.4%. The survey further revealed that nearly 29.5% of students are exposed to second-hand smoke, exposing millions of children to long-term health risks.

Public health experts say these figures reflect a worrying shift in tobacco consumption patterns, with children and teenagers increasingly being targeted through sophisticated marketing tactics, flavoured products, digital promotions and surrogate advertising campaigns.

Launching the pilot version of the Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions (ToFEI) Application at a national event organised under the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said the initiative reflected India’s continuing commitment to protect present and future generations from the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine addiction.

The ToFEI application has been designed as a digital monitoring and compliance platform for educational institutions. It will facilitate self-assessment and reporting by schools and colleges, monitoring of tobacco-free campus norms, implementation of mandatory signage requirements, prohibition of tobacco sales within 100 yards of educational institutions, and awareness activities for students and teachers.

Officials said the platform is expected to strengthen accountability through standardised monitoring and reporting mechanisms while promoting healthier environments for children and adolescents. The pilot phase will initially be implemented in Rajasthan, Meghalaya and Maharashtra before a wider national rollout.

Addressing the gathering, Srivastava said this year’s World No Tobacco Day theme — “Unmasking the Appeal: Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction” — was especially relevant at a time when young people are increasingly being influenced by emerging nicotine and tobacco products.

She observed that tobacco and nicotine products are now aggressively marketed through attractive flavours, colourful packaging, surrogate advertising, influencer-driven promotions and social media campaigns that create misleading perceptions among youth.

“There is a need to create greater awareness among young people so that they remain informed and committed to rejecting tobacco and nicotine consumption,” she said.

Public health experts have repeatedly warned that the tobacco industry is adapting its marketing strategies to appeal to adolescents and first-time users. Attractive product designs, flavoured nicotine products, sleek e-cigarette devices and online promotional campaigns are making tobacco use appear fashionable and less harmful, particularly among school and college students.

The concerns and recommendations emerged at an another event in the national capital jointly organised by the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, and the Socio Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS) on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2026 under the theme “Unmasking the Appeal — Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction”.

Salil Kumar, Director, Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, said India’s youth are the country’s greatest strength, and protecting them from tobacco and nicotine addiction must remain a national priority.

Dr. L. Swasticharan, Deputy Director General and Director (EMR), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said protecting children and youth from tobacco and nicotine products must become both a national and societal priority. He stressed that educational institutions, parents, law enforcement agencies, communities and civil society organisations must work together to create healthier and safer environments for young people.

Prof. Sanjoy Roy, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Head, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, said tobacco and nicotine addiction among youth was not merely a health issue but also a broader social and developmental concern affecting the country’s future.

He underlined the need for stronger youth engagement, institutional accountability and preventive interventions to achieve the vision of a tobacco-free generation.

Highlighting emerging public health concerns, Dr. Rana J. Singh, Director, Tobacco Control, South-East Asia, Vital Strategies, cautioned against the growing popularity of newer nicotine and tobacco products among adolescents and stressed the need for evidence-based interventions, stronger public awareness campaigns and robust tobacco control policies.

Speaking on the legal and policy dimensions of tobacco control in India, Deepak Mishra, Executive Director, SEEDS, highlighted the urgent need to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control laws and enhance community participation to safeguard youth from tobacco exposure and addiction.

Meanwhile, oncologists have sounded an alarm over the increasing number of aggressive cancers being diagnosed among very young tobacco users.

Dr. Radheshyam Naik, Founder, Medical Director and Head of Medical Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at Sammprada Hospital, Bengaluru, said tobacco-related cancers were no longer confined to lung cancer alone.

“We are witnessing a growing burden of esophageal, pancreatic, bladder, stomach and liver cancers linked directly to tobacco exposure. Many of these cancers are diagnosed late and are extremely aggressive. What is particularly worrying is that patients are now presenting at younger ages because tobacco exposure is beginning earlier in life,” he said.

Dr. Naik added that his team had recently treated a 16-year-old patient with tobacco-related head and neck cancer, describing it as a stark warning sign for families, schools and policymakers.

“This should serve as a wake-up call. Tobacco initiation among youth is becoming a serious cancer risk,” he said.

Experts noted that tobacco-induced cancers are often biologically more aggressive and significantly harder to treat.

Dr. Vinod Ramani, Consultant in Cancer Prevention and Preventive Oncology at Sammprada Hospital, said tobacco users were more likely to experience treatment complications, therapy failure, recurrence and even second cancers.

“Smoking slows down wound healing after surgery, increases infection risks and reduces the effectiveness of cancer treatment. In many cases, the outcomes are considerably worse compared to non-tobacco-related cancers,” he said.

Public health specialists also cautioned that misconceptions surrounding “safe limits” of tobacco consumption continue to fuel addiction and delay diagnosis.

Doctors highlighted that tobacco affects nearly every organ system and is linked to several cancers beyond lung disease, including cancers of the esophagus, pancreas, bladder, kidney, liver and stomach, as well as acute myeloid leukaemia and head-and-neck cancers.

“Many patients still believe that if they avoid lung disease, tobacco is somehow manageable. That is dangerously incorrect. Prevention remains our strongest weapon,” Dr. Naik said.