European Conference Tobacco or Health 2020: Towards a new momentum?

This conference allowed all stakeholders involved in the fight against smoking to share new knowledge in this field, their experiences of good practices, but also to prepare for upcoming events such as the Conference of the Parties to the WHO treaty scheduled for next November. The topics discussed were very diverse: the effectiveness of public policies to ban advertising, smoke-free spaces, plain packaging, the issue of points of sale, but also new interference strategies by the tobacco industry, the challenges related to the marketing of new products, etc. The stakes are high because the prevalence of smoking in the WHO European region remains particularly high: in 2018, it represented more than 25% of the years and more [1]. While progress has been made in terms of male consumption, the situation remains particularly worrying for women. In addition, in view of the 30% reduction targets for prevalence to be achieved by 2025, only 6 countries out of the 53 countries in the WHO Euro region are expected to achieve this target. Too many measures provided for in the FCTC treaty based on good practices are still not implemented or applied. Added to this are the challenges linked to the aggressive "reconquest" strategy of the cigarette manufacturers, the pressure they exert on political decision-makers. In this perspective, this conference was intended to mobilize countries to fully invest. Germany, which is hosting this conference, was particularly targeted by this urgent call, the country is now ranked worst in terms of public policy to reduce tobacco consumption. The situation remains heterogeneous between countries. However, a growing number of them are moving towards the Endgame path, characterized by a smoking prevalence of less than 5% in the coming decades. France is committed to this approach with the objective of a tobacco-free generation by 2032. ©Generation Without Tobacco

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WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000-2025, third edition. Geneva:World Health Organization;2019 https://www.who.int/publications-detail/who-global-report-on-trends-in-prevalence-of-tobacco-use-2000-2025-third-edition | ©National Committee Against Smoking |