IARC marks World No Tobacco Day 2024

Tobacco smoking remains the most important avoidable cause of cancer worldwide. Smokeless tobacco products are also an important contributor to the global cancer burden. On World No Tobacco Day 2024, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) #TobaccoExposed campaign and highlighting the Agency’s research on the impact of tobacco on the global burden of cancer.

To mark the day, IARC has released videos of IARC scientists Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram and Dr Béatrice Lauby-Secretan speaking about the contribution of tobacco use to the global cancer burden, how IARC tracks the impact of tobacco control policies, and how IARC evaluates approaches to prevent tobacco-related cancers. IARC is also making available social media tiles with a message from IARC scientist Dr Mahdi Sheikh: it’s never too late to quit smoking, even after a cancer diagnosis.

In addition, IARC scientists Dr Béatrice Lauby-Secretan and Dr Hilary Robbins are presenting their research on prevention and screening for lung cancer and oral cancer at the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly during a World No Tobacco Day side event on 31 May 2024.

IARC research shows that tobacco smoking causes at least 20 different types of cancer. The use of smokeless tobacco products is among the leading causes of oral cancer in countries where they are commonly used. Quitting smoking after a cancer diagnosis, even with a late-stage cancer, can reduce the risk of cancer progression or cancer death by half.

Watch the video with Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram

Watch the video with Dr Béatrice Lauby-Secretan

Share the social media tiles

View IARC Handbooks Volume 19: Oral Cancer Prevention 

Visit the WHO World No Tobacco Day webpage 

Read the WHO news release “Tobacco and nicotine industry tactics addict youth for life”, about the launch of the “Hooking the next generation” report