Direct tobacco advertising and promotion in the WHO European Region

Tobacco advertising and promotion is any form of commercial communication, recommendation or action. Tobacco can be advertised and promoted directly through usual channels of communication such as national TV and radio, local magazines and newspapers, billboards (and other forms of outdoor advertising), points of sale and the Internet.

All forms of national direct communication means are unequally regulated within the WHO European Region. To date, only 13 WHO European countries (representing about 15% of the WHO European countries) have implemented a ban on all national forms of direct tobacco advertising and promotion.

While tobacco advertising and promotion on national TV and radio, in local magazines and newspapers and on billboards tend to be very widely covered by a ban, more progress is needed to regulate tobacco advertising and promotion on the internet and at points of sale.

Within the WHO European Region, the trends can considerably vary depending on the sub-region considered. In this regard, it has to be noted that the European Union countries are doing well above the average of the WHO European Region, particularly concerning bans on tobacco advertising and promotion in local magazines and newspapers and on Internet.