Europe is going to ban smoking in public places such as terraces And parks:BRuselas also calls for the ban to be extended to products such as electronic cigarettes And heated tobacco. Every year approximately 700,000 people in the EU lose their lives to tobacco-related diseases.
The European Commission (EC) has made recommendations to the Member States expand smoke-free zones to various outdoor recreation areas where the presence of children is likelysuch as terraces of bars and restaurants, amusement parks, swimming pools and bus stops. This initiative, presented by the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, aims reduce exposure to tobacco and especially protect the youngestas tobacco is still the leading risk factor for cancer and heart, respiratory and brain diseases.
In a statement, the EC pointed out that it aims to “better protect the EU population, in particular children and young people” and also advises extend the ban on smoking in open spaces as public playgrounds; outdoor areas belonging to health and education centers; public buildings and transport stops and stations.
In this revision of the Council recommendation on smoke-free environments, published in 2009, Brussels also advises expanding the ban to emerging products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobaccowhich have become popular among young people and are often marketed under misleading claims about their safety. The Commission emphasizes that these products can cause nicotine addiction and increase consumption both traditional tobacco and new devices, making them a threat to public health.
“These products have significantly increased their market share; they are often marketed with misleading claims about their supposed safety or usefulness as a smoking cessation aid,” the Community Executive says.
In addition, Brussels will award a direct subsidy of €16 million from the EU4Health program and €80 million from the Horizon programme to strengthen tobacco and nicotine control, as well as addiction prevention. Likewise, as they have highlighted, the EC will “develop a range of prevention tools to support the protection of the health of children and young people.”
Although these recommendations are not binding, the body urges Member States to do so include them in your national public health strategiesand adapt them to your specific needs.
Tobacco, cancer and other diseases
The recommendations come shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted this negative effects of exposure to passive emissions of these emerging products including serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
These suggestions are part of the European plan ‘Defeat cancer’ who has set the goal to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040date on which, according to this project, less than 5% of the population should use tobacco.
Tobacco is the leading risk factor for cancer and more than a quarter of cancer deaths in the EU, Iceland and Norway are attributed to smoking. The European Commission has also done that Emphasized the benefits of smoke-free zonesnoting that according to recent data, they have helped reduce tobacco-related deaths and improve the respiratory health of the general population.
Annually approximately 700,000 people in the European Union lose their lives tobacco-related diseases, including many for which exposure is passive. Faced with this, the EC urges Member States to intensify their efforts in the fight against smoking to achieve significant improvements in public health across the region.