The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that major tobacco companies are marketing e-cigarettes to attract youths despite claiming they aim to end the smoking epidemic, reports Reuters.

The statement comes after the Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International (PMI) was quoted as saying he wanted PMI “to leave smoking behind”. Rüdiger Krech, director of the WHO’s department of health promotion, said he did not believe that big tobacco firms could suddenly turn from being the problem to being part of the solution.
A report from the WHO shows that over eight million people die from tobacco use and exposure to smoke every year, making it a leading cause of preventable diseases, reports Reuters. The fact that tobacco firms are now promoting e-cigarettes as a cool alternative with flavours aimed at youths, is dangerous according to Krech who said e-cigarette users were “at least twice if not three times” more likely to become cigarette smokers.
"While the evidence is not yet totally conclusive on the issue of e-cigarettes, we know that they are also harmful. That calls for exactly the same regulation as cigarettes," Krech added.
Kelly Henning of Bloomberg Philanthropies who funded the WHO report said: "We know e-cigarettes are extremely appealing to children and the industry's goal is to get a whole new generation of users addicted to these products.
"One in 5 high school kids are using currently e-cigarettes, that's 3.6 million kids. There is still a very large problem here," she said.