The tenth edition of the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic (1), released in June 2025, presents the latest comparative data to assess global, regional and national progress in protecting people from the harms of tobacco use. To support evidence-based policy dialogue in the WHO European Region, a set of measure-specific factsheets has been developed, each summarizing the implementation of one MPOWER component. This factsheet provides an overview of the status of the W — Warn about the dangers of tobacco measure as of 2024.

What should be done?

• Ensure health warning legislation is clearly articulated and aligned with WHO FCTC Article 11 and its guidelines with the aim to limit misinterpretation.
• Ensure the inclusion of all categories of tobacco and nicotine products, including smokeless tobacco, new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products and products that are devices used for tobacco use (such as waterpipes, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes).
• Monitor the implementation of health warnings and address noncompliance by establishing a monitoring system that allows for measuring compliance to assess violations.
• Ensure that the rotation of warnings used is being implemented effectively and assess the reach of the warnings to the public.
• Introduce standardized (plain) packaging to remove all promotional elements from packs (including branding, colours, logos and attractive design features), ensuring that health warnings are the most visible element.
• Design and fund sustained, evidence-based mass media campaigns that clearly communicate the health harms of tobacco and nicotine use, counter industry misinformation and marketing tactics, and promote available cessation support.
• Run campaigns with sufficient frequency and duration – not as one-off events – and evaluate their impact to continually improve effectiveness.