EuroHealthNet Country Exchange Visit: Curbing the consumption of tobacco and nicotine-based products in Europe: What works? (Members only)

When: 20-21 November 2024
Where: Budapest, Hungary

Tobacco use remains the largest preventable health risk in the European Union, causing nearly 700,000 deaths annually, with half of smokers facing premature mortality, losing an average of 14 years. Despite advancements in tobacco control, statistics reveal that 26% of the general population and a striking 29% of young Europeans continue to smoke. Notably, men and certain adolescent groups exhibit higher smoking rates. While there is a decline in traditional cigarette smoking among adolescents, the rise of new tobacco and nicotine products like heated tobacco, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches poses a parallel health risk.^1,2

Socioeconomic factors strongly influence smoking behaviours, impacting initiation and cessation patterns across different life stages.³ Beyond health concerns, tobacco consumption and e-cigarettes pose environmental hazards, notably as cigarette litter and disposable vapes rank among the world’s most pervasive and dangerous waste.^4,5

Guided by the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), countries are leveraging the MPOWER measures to effectuate robust tobacco control strategies. Over the past years, the European Union and Member States have implemented various policies aligning with the “Tobacco-Free Generation” goal of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

EuroHealthNet’s Country Exchange Visit

In this context, this Country Exchange Visit (CEV), hosted by EuroHealthNet’s member the National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy (NNGYK) in Hungary, will enable representatives of national or regional public health agencies from across the EU to:

• Understand the current landscape with respect to the uptake and use of cigarettes and new products, like heated tobacco, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.
• Explore the state of play of current strategies and interventions to reduce the uptake and use of cigarettes and new tobacco and nicotine-based products:
  • What are the conflicts of interest (e.g., public health, commercial, cultural)?
  • What challenges remain, and why; what new challenges have emerged?
  • What kinds of measures have been effective, what are new opportunities for action?
• Exchange on equity dimension and distributional impacts of tobacco control policies and programmes.
• Identify how the sustainability agenda can help to advance the public health agenda around tobacco and nicotine consumption.
• Consider what can be done to dissuade future generations of consumers to take-up these products.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration among public health agencies across the EU.

As part of the Country Exchange Visit (CEV), we also aim to showcase successful Hungarian prevention programs that can serve as a model for participating countries. Overall, participants will engage in discussions and exchanges centred around various policy and practice interventions, sharing effective strategies, and addressing the challenges of implementation, and what can be done, also collaboratively, to overcome them.

The Country Exchange Visit (CEV) is organised during the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU, which takes place from 1 July 2024 – 31 December 2024.

Some practical details:

• EuroHealthNet Country Exchange Visits are member-only events that are open to senior delegates.
• Please note that all participants will be required to invest some time in preparing for the event, for example, by presenting information from your country.
• Country Exchange Visits are held in English. Unfortunately, no interpretation service will be available. Due to the interactive nature of Country Exchange Visits, it is therefore advised that the representative attending feels comfortable exchanging information in English.
• Participants should arrive on Tuesday 19 November, as the programme is starting Wednesday 20 November at 9:00 CET and are kindly requested to stay until the end of the CEV, 15:00 CET on Thursday 21 November.
• EuroHealthNet can fund the participation (travel and accommodation) of a limited number of Members. EuroHealthNet will contact you with confirmation if you can attend on a funded basis.
• Have a look at the draft agenda here.

To express your interest to participate, please fill out the form.

If you have any questions, please contact Anne Wagenführ-Leroyer. The deadline is 15 September 2024, or until the spaces are filled. We aim to confirm attendees shortly after the deadline.

References

1. European Commission website, Tobacco overview
2. OECD/European Union (2022), Health at a Glance: Europe 2022: State of Health in the EU Cycle, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/507433b0-en.
3. Michael J. Green “Comment: Yet another reason we need to tackle socioeconomic inequalities in smoking”, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe 2022;23: 100520 Published online 29 September 2022
4. Louise Smith and Nikki Sutherland “The environmental impact of disposable vapes”, Commons Library Debate Pack, 28 November 2022,
5. Smoke Free Partnership input on the revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC