The European Commission urged member states to extend smoke-free zones to outdoor spaces where children are likely to gather, including terraces of bars and restaurants, pools, and amusement parks.
“When it comes to cancer risk factors and many other diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and lung conditions, tobacco leads the list,” said Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides at a press conference.
In a statement, the European Commission notes that it seeks to better protect the population of the EU, especially children and young people, and also advises expanding the smoking ban in outdoor areas such as public playgrounds; outdoor spaces belonging to health and educational facilities; public buildings and transport stops and stations.
In this revision of the Council Recommendation on smokefree environments published in 2009, Brussels also advises EU member states to widen smokefree policies to heated tobacco products (HTP) and electronic cigarettes, which Brussels says are reaching increasingly younger users.
“These products have considerably increased their market share, often marketed with misleading claims about their supposed safety or their usefulness as tools to quit smoking. However, their potential harmful effects are serious, users can become nicotine addicted, and many end up consuming both traditional tobacco and emerging products,” the EC notes.
The executive notes that its recommendations come just after the World Health Organization highlighted the negative effects from passive exposure to emissions from these emerging products, including significant respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
The Commission urges member states to strengthen international cooperation to maximize the impact of measures across the EU.
Brussels will allocate a direct grant of 16 million euros from the EU4Health program and 80 million euros from the Horizon program to reinforce tobacco and nicotine control, prevention of addictions, and the EC will develop a set of prevention tools to support the health protection of children and youths.
The Commission recalls that since health policy is the responsibility of member states, they are invited to apply these recommendations through their own policies, as they see fit, taking into account national circumstances and needs.
These suggestions fit within the European Beating Cancer plan, which set the goal of a tobacco-free generation by 2040, when less than 5 percent of the population should use tobacco, the project states.
Tobacco is the main risk factor for cancer, and more than a quarter of cancer deaths in the EU, Iceland, and Norway are attributed to smoking.
According to the EC, smokefree environments have improved mortality rates and other health indicators, such as heart attack rates in the general population, and respiratory health has also improved.