Smoking and COVID-19: What you need to know

In this exceptional context of pandemic, at a time when much contradictory information is circulating on the effects of smoking and nicotine on COVID-19, the Smoke Free Partnership coalition takes stock of the evidence to date, and calls on governments to be vigilant at several levels.

First, tobacco use has been shown to be associated with higher risks of severe complications and death from COVID-19. Since smoking is a risk factor for hypertension and diabetes, it is therefore a direct and indirect risk factor for contracting a severe form of COVID-19. Based on the data available to date, it is estimated that smokers are more likely to suffer from severe symptoms and end up in intensive care, require mechanical ventilation, or die, compared to non-smoking patients.

The Smoke Free Partnership calls on governments to strengthen tobacco control, drawing on civil society, at European and Member State level as well as at global level. This would help to mitigate the severity of the health crisis in the short term, and would allow the sustainability of health systems in the long term. It is therefore essential for governments to support tobacco prevention, cessation campaigns, as well as the production and dissemination of independent and reliable information.

Finally, Smoke Free Partnership is sounding the alarm about the tobacco industry's corporate social responsibility operations in recent weeks. Governments need to take action to prevent tobacco companies from profiting from these actions, given the scale of the health impact directly linked to their activities. Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) provides for strict regulation of interactions between the tobacco industry and public decision-makers, while Article 13 prohibits any form of direct or indirect advertising of tobacco products.

Smoke-Free Partnership Coalition Statement on COVID-19 and Tobacco Control (in French)