Europe: Tobacco, alcohol, processed foods and fossil fuels cause 2.7 million preventable premature deaths per year

Every year in Europe, 2.7 million deaths are caused by tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels and processed foods, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday 12 June in its report on the commercial determinants of non-communicable diseases. It urges governments to impose stricter regulation of these products that are harmful to health and jeopardise health systems.

Commercial determinants of health refer to the way in which commercial actors, their products and their practices influence health. Some of these industries: tobacco, alcohol, agri-food or even fossil fuels deploy numerous strategies to hinder the implementation of policies relating to non-communicable diseases (cancers, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.) caused by their products.

Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said: “The tactics of these industries include exploiting vulnerable people through targeted marketing strategies, deceiving consumers and spreading false claims about the benefits of their products or their environmental certifications. »

Non-communicable diseases, the leading cause of death in Europe

Thus, the report estimates that tobacco, fossil fuels, ultra-processed foods (UPF) and alcohol are responsible for more than 7,400 deaths every day in the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. Together, these four industries cause an estimated 2.7 million preventable premature deaths annually in the region, or about a quarter (24.5 %) of all mortality.

The WHO report highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing commercial influences on public health, emphasizing that policy and regulatory actions are essential to reduce the deleterious consequences of certain economic actors causing noncommunicable diseases.

The activities of tobacco lobbies have had a significant impact by delaying the implementation of effective public health policies, minimizing tobacco taxes, and reducing restrictions on tobacco advertising. These lobbies are not limited to domestic activities, but also exert influence on international regulations. They seek to influence negotiations and decisions within international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Despite the health risks, only a minority of European countries have implemented good measures in smoke-free places, or adopted all the good practices in tobacco control set out in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Thus, efforts to make products less attractive through plain packaging, or to reduce their accessibility through tax increases often do not succeed. This is particularly the case for alcohol or for food labelling via nutriscores.[1]

WHO recalls that tobacco is responsible for more than 1 million deaths per year in Europe, or about 10 % of all deaths in the region attributable to this risk factor alone. Fossil fuels are also a major factor, causing nearly 600 000 deaths each year, which represents about 5 % of all deaths. Alcohol is responsible for more than 400 000 deaths annually. Finally, more than 350 000 deaths are attributed to excessive consumption of processed meat, sugary drinks and fatty and salty foods.

Similar business practices

These commercial actors identified in the report engage in nearly identical practices to shape structural, policy, and information environments to their advantage. Their primary goals are to generate profits, maximize product sales, and stimulate consumption. These industries spend considerable resources opposing public health policies, and they strive to disseminate scientific data that is favorable to them while ignoring conflicts of interest. Their actions reinforce social inequalities in health. Finally, they externalize the costs of the harm caused by their products to human and environmental health, and they significantly increase the burden of noncommunicable diseases in health systems.

Towards the implementation of stricter regulations

The report's recommendations urge European governments to impose stricter regulations on the marketing of products that are harmful to health. They call for limiting monopolistic practices and protecting public policies from lobbying by these powerful actors, and for prioritizing public health over the vested interests of these economic agents. Regulatory action is all the more crucial in the era of globalization, where international trade agreements and transnational economic interests can hamper efforts to protect public health.

“ For too long, we have viewed risk factors as being primarily about individual choices. We need to reframe the problem as a systemic one, where policy must counter 'consumption environments', restrict marketing and stop interference in policy-making. " recalled Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister.

Article 5.3 of the FCTC aims to protect public health policies from tobacco industry influence. It recommends limiting and making transparent interactions with the tobacco industry, rejecting non-binding partnerships, avoiding conflicts of interest, ensuring transparency of necessary interactions, and refusing funding and donations from the tobacco industry. This approach can be applied to combating noncommunicable diseases by protecting public health policies from harmful influences, maintaining transparency, avoiding conflicts of interest, and refusing funding from industries that contribute to NCDs.

Finally, the crucial role of civil society in the adoption and implementation of public policies is recalled. Thus, some countries have achieved positive results despite strong opposition from the industry. Recently, national and international mobilization of civil society organizations contributed to the adoption of tobacco legislation in Slovenia. In Estonia, a coalition of health sector partners, including dentists, nurses and doctors, helped advance legislation on the taxation of sugary drinks.

©Tobacco Free Generation

D.T.

[1] Anna Bawden, Denis Campbell, Tobacco, alcohol, processed foods and fossil fuels 'kill 2.7 my year in Europe' , The Guardian, published June 12, 2024, accessed June 12, 2024

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