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ID: 41582011853-60
Lobbying Activity
Response to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
3 Mar 2020
The roadmap
We welcome the European Commission’s roadmap on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The roadmap takes into consideration key issues with the aim to keep reducing the incidence of cancer affirming that “There is a great potential in increased combination and sharing of available data collected from clinical experience and research.”
Furthermore, the initiative aims to achieve specific goals in the domain of prevention: “Possible objectives – prevent the preventable: further reduction of smoking prevalence (…)” thanks to: “Potential instruments: the intervention could consider the pivotal role of taxation in reducing alcohol and tobacco consumption, in particular to deter youth from smoking and abusing alcohol.”
Nevertheless, the roadmap does not take into consideration successful policies and stop smoking support options and their effectiveness, such as the use of vaping products, implemented so far in the EU countries and supported by scientific evidence.
Call to action
Encouraging smoking cessation thanks to vaping
Restricted access to alternative nicotine products such as e-cigarettes, which are a safe and effective alternative to tobacco consumption, limits the citizens’ right to health. For this reason, the EU member states must promote alternatives to quit tobacco such as the switch to vaping products.
In UK, Public Health England affirms that there is good evidence to show that using stop smoking tools increases people’s chance of quitting success, especially when combined with stop smoking service and approach. Thanks to intensive campaigns and the “Stoptober” initiative started in 2012, e-cigarettes are indeed the first stop smoking aid in England. Following the English best practice, France started the Moi(s) sans tabac campaign, encouraging smokers to give up for one month.
Leading UK health and public health organisations such as Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians estimate that the risk reduction thanks to e-cigarettes is at least 95%.
Sources:
o John Britton and Dr Ilze Bogdanovica, Electronic cigarettes. A report commissioned by Public Health England, May 2014; 24.
o McNeill et al, E-cigarettes: an evidence update – A report commissioned by Public Health England, Public Health England, August 2015; 5.
o West R, Hajek P, Mcneill A, Brown J, Arnott D (2015) Electronic cigarettes: what we know so far. A report to UK All Party Parliamentary Groups. www.smokinginengland.info/reports/
There are recently published clinical trials and prospective studies related to e-cigarettes use for smoking cessation, showing that vapour products are twice as effective as nicotine replaced therapy in helping smokers to quit:
o Trial: Hajek et al (2019) “A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy” NEJM, at: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa1808779
A recent Italian research confirmed the effectiveness and safety of e-cigarettes in helping smokers reduce tobacco consumption and improve lungs’ health. The research assesses the effects of an e-cig program on pulmonary health and evaluates the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in reducing tobacco consumption:
o Lucchiari et al (2019), “Benefits of e-cigarettes in smoking reduction and in pulmonary health among chronic smokers undergoing a lung cancer screening program at 6 months”; Addict Behav. 2020 Apr; 103:106222. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106222. Epub 2019 Nov 30.
Supporting switching to vapour products
There is also scientific literature showing that after switching from smoking to vaping biomarkers of cancer in blood and urine decrease in a comparable manner as cessation:
E-Cigarettes use in patients with cancer
There is scientific literature demonstrating that patients with cancer trying to quit smoking, have a positive attitude and benefits from e-cigarettes consumption.
For further details see the file attached.
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