In a bid to protect the world’s 1.8 billion young people, the World Health Organization (WHO) appealed governments to put a ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

The recent step has been taken to help prevent young people beginning to smoke.

WHO also highlighted the significance of applying this, as smoking was estimated to cause around one billion premature deaths this century.

The agency disclosed appraisals regarding the deadly effects of smoking.

Every year, around 5, 4 million people die prematurely due to tobacco-related illnesses, with 70% of these deaths in developing countries.

The officials stated that this rate would cross 8, 3 million deaths by 2030.

Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative said, “Half measures are not enough. When one form of advertising is banned, the tobacco industry simply shifts its vast resources to another channel. We urge governments to impose a complete ban to break the tobacco marketing net.”

WHO based its requirement on latest studies that confirm the influence tobacco ads have on young people. The more exposed they are to tobacco commercials, the higher the possibility that they will get into this dealt habit and have problems in quitting.

However, WHO also said that only 5% of the world’s population is covered by consistent bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

In their appeal released on World No Tobacco Day, the organization said that cigarettes makers use advanced marketing techniques to attract young people.

The tobacco companies target young people by linking tobacco use with glamour, sex appeal and energy. In this way, they succeed to attract people younger than 18, a quarter of them being under the age of 10. It was concluded that young women and girls are at the highest risk to be framed by these ads.

So, the officials urged all governments to put a complete ban, and break the tobacco marketing network.