Europe still has the highest prevalence levels of tobacco use (29%), and smoking remains the deadliest, preventable, cause of premature death in the European Union, killing 700,000 people every year. As such smoking remains a major health issue, affecting primarily people with respiratory diseases, regardless if they are smokers themselves or not.

In 2019, EFA continued to actively advocate for policies that promote tobacco control, smoke cessation, and smoke-free environments – including protection from second-hand smoke. Tackling smoking in indoor and outdoor spaces became a central recommendation to policymakers in our Active Patients ACCESS Care Report and was also a key message during World No Tobacco Day in which EFA and national members were highly active.

In support of scientific research as the basis of advocacy, we also brought the patients’ perspective to the final conference of the “TackSHS” research project, which looks into the effects of exposure to smoke and specifically, second hand smoke on human respiratory health. Meanwhile, we publicly opposed the promotion of tobacco industry by media, and countered reports by the tobacco lobby organisation that painted a rosy picture for the impact of tobacco on health and claimed an overregulation of tobacco use at European level.