On May 25-26, EFA participated at International Conference on Tobacco Control 2017 held in Athens and organised by our partner ENSP (European Network for Smoking and Tobacco prevention).
Experts clearly presented scientific data that tobacco use is still the principal cause of preventable disease and death in Europe, but they also presented the progress made in tobacco control to implement a tobacco free world. The outcome of the meeting underlined the need to have multi-layer policy making actors engaged to strengthen public policy in tobacco control – European Union, Members States, World Health Organisation, and NGOs, including patients affected play a crucial role.
With the aim to end the tobacco epidemic in Europe by 2040, the mains goal to achieve have been set:
- To reduce the prevalence of current tobacco us to less than 5%
- To lead the consumption to an end
- To increase the proportion of ex-smokers to at least 30%
- To eliminate SHS exposure, especially among children and pregnant women, workers and reduce SHS exposure among adults to at most 5%
EFA very much supports these goals but believes that work on SHS exposure has stagnated and that people, especially patients with COPD do not have equal access to comprehensive support in quitting and getting rid of tobacco dependence.