European Commission recommends strengthening protection against secondhand smoke in outdoor areas
Kyiv • UNN
The EC recommends extending smokefree policies to key outdoor areas and new tobacco products. The aim is to better protect EU citizens, especially children and young people, from exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosols.
The European Commission has recommended strengthening the protection of people from exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosols through a revision of the Council Recommendation on Smokefree Environments. The new initiative calls on member states to extend smoke-free policies to key open areas to better protect EU residents, especially children and young people. This was reported by the European Commission, UNN reports .
Details
Recommended locations include open recreational areas where children may be present, such as playgrounds, amusement parks, swimming pools, as well as open areas associated with medical and educational facilities, public buildings, service facilities, and transportation stops and stations.
The recommendation also calls for smokefree policies to be expanded to cover new products such as heated tobacco products (HTPs) and e-cigarettes, which are becoming increasingly popular among younger users. This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out the negative effects of exposure to secondary emissions from these new products, including serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
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The Commission also encourages Member States to share best practices and strengthen international cooperation to maximize the impact of measures taken across the EU. The Commission will provide support, including through a direct grant of €16 million from the EU4Health program and €80 million from the Horizon program, to strengthen tobacco and nicotine control and addiction prevention. In addition, the Commission will develop prevention tools to protect the health of children and young people.
Today's recommendations for strengthening protection against secondhand smoke and aerosols are addressed to Member States. As health policy is the responsibility of Member States, they are invited to implement these recommendations in their policies, taking into account national circumstances and needs.
Context
Europe's Cancer Plan aims to create a “Tobacco-Free Generation” by 2040, where less than 5% of the population uses tobacco products. Today's proposal is another step forward in efforts to improve preventive health and contributes to the de-normalization of tobacco use and new products.
Tobacco is a major risk factor for cancer, and more than a quarter of cancer deaths in the EU, Iceland, and Norway are attributed to smoking. Smokefree environments have been shown to reduce mortality rates and other health indicators, such as heart attacks among the population and improved respiratory health.
Today's recommendation covers new products, such as heated tobacco products (HTPs) and e-cigarettes, which have significantly increased their market share. Often these products are marketed with misleading claims about their safety or usefulness as cessation tools, but their potentially harmful effects are serious, and users can become addicted to nicotine and end up using both traditional tobacco and new products.
The recommendation also extends the smokefree policy to key outdoor areas, including public playgrounds, amusement parks, swimming pools, transport stops and stations, outdoor areas associated with health and education facilities, and public buildings.
