World No Tobacco Day 2026: What Tobacco Is Doing to Your Eyes
Santiya William, B.Optom, Ophthalmic Technician & Staff Writer, IECRC
WARNING: SMOKING CAUSES BLINDNESS.
Singapore puts it right there on the packet. Bold text, impossible to miss:
Most people see it, register it for half a second, and move on.
Each year on 31 May, World No Tobacco Day unites governments, health organisations, civil society and youth voices under a shared mission: to end the tobacco epidemic and secure a tobacco- and nicotine-free future for the next generation. This World No Tobacco Day 2026, let’s reflect on what tobacco is doing to your eyes.
This Year's Theme: Unmasking the Appeal
The World Health Organisation's theme for World No Tobacco Day 2026 is "Unmasking the Appeal — Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction" — exposing how the tobacco industry continues to repackage addiction through sleek devices, fruit flavours and digital marketing aimed squarely at younger audiences.
Behind the branding, the harm has not changed. Tobacco remains responsible for over eight million deaths a year globally, and its effects on vision are well-documented but sadly not well-known.
What Tobacco Does to Your Eyes
Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, many of which reach the delicate structures of the eye through the bloodstream. The damage is usually silent until it is already significant. Eye conditions most strongly linked to tobacco use include:
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — smokers are up to four times more likely to develop this, and up to five years earlier
Cataracts — two to three times higher risk in smokers; one of the leading causes of preventable blindness
Diabetic retinopathy — smoking accelerates retinal damage and worsens treatment outcomes
Glaucoma — linked to increased eye pressure and optic nerve stress; damage due to glaucoma is irreversible
Dry eye disease — cigarette smoke disrupts the tear film, causing chronic irritation and surface damage
IECRC’s Anti-Smoking Advocacy
Twenty-two years ago, Adj A/Prof Au Eong Kah Guan, Dr Ajeet Madhav Wagle and Dr Swati Handa published a Forum Page letter in The Straits Times on 22 June 2004 to highlight the dangers of blindness due to smoking and urged the authorities to put a graphic health warning stating “Smoking Causes Blindness”. In another letter published in The Straits Times on 19 November 2004, Adj A/Prof Au Eong highlighted that tobacco's impact on eye health extends well beyond cataracts — drawing attention to other serious conditions such as age-related macular degeneration that were being overlooked in public discourse at the time.
Thankfully, Adj A/Prof Au Eong’s advocacy efforts did not go unnoticed, and when the Health Promotion Board finally decided to print a “Smoking Causes Blindness” graphic health warning on cigarette packs for cigarettes sold in Singapore, it invited Adj A/Prof Au Eong to contribute a picture for the graphic health warning.
As Adj A/Prof Au Eong has witnessed first-hand on multiple occasions the look of fear in many patients’ eye just before they receive an anti-VEGF injection into their eyeballs to treat age-related macular degeneration, he decided to use a picture of an eye forcefully kept opened by a speculum just before the procedure. Instead of using a real patient’s eye, he decided to use his own eye for the photoshoot. He first numbed his own eye with numbing eye drops and inserted a speculum into his own eye to keep his eye wide open. A photographer took multiple photographs of his eye while he was tearing uncontrollably and experiencing discomfort as he was unable to blink his eye. Despite his ordeal, Adj A/Prof Au Eong described it as all worthwhile as it was for a good cause. When he finally submitted his eye photo to the Health Promotion Board, it did not find the picture frightening enough. With Adj A/Prof Au Eong’s permission, the board decided to edit the photo slightly to make it more frightening.
The warning has been there all along. Let World No Tobacco Day 2026 reminds us of the harmful effects of smoking on our eye health besides the more commonly known smoking-related conditions such as lung cancer, stroke and heart attack.
If you smoke or have a history of tobacco use, book a comprehensive eye examination with our team at eyecataractretina.com/booking.
Quitting Makes a Difference
The evidence is clear — quitting at any age reduces your risk of various smoking-related harmful effects. The longer you remain smoke-free, the lower it falls. It is not too late to quit today. For support, contact the Singapore Quitline: 1800 438 2000, or visit the Health Promotion Board's I Quit programme.