After our contribution to the WHO Tobacco or Health conference in March, we travelled to Athens in April to participate at the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) Annual General Meeting. We are also happy to see the Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable campaign re-launch, an initiative that has counted with our patient expertise on quitting smoking.
Fighting tobacco use in Europe
On the 27th-29th of April, Senior EU Policy Advisor Roberta Savli took part in the Annual General Assembly of our partner organisation European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) in Athens. The meeting brought together tobacco control experts from all over Europe to discuss the implementation of two main binding documents to tackle tobacco consumption and advertisement: the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and its first Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, and the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Discussions focused on the need to fight illicit trade as about 9-11% of the global cigarette market is illicit, in some countries, this share accounts for to 50% and more.
Illicit trade is a public health problem as it means uncontrolled products available on the market and reduced tobacco products’ prices. As for April 2015, the FCTC Protocol has been ratified by 7 countries globally, including only 2 Member States of the European Union. 33 countries more need to ratify the Protocol to make its provisions binding and a stronger role of the European Union is required.
The update of the ENSP smoking cessation guidelines was also presented, together with an overview of the plain packaging plans in several European countries. Ireland and the United Kingdom have introduced plain packaging in their legislations, becoming the second and third country in the world, after Australia, to require that cigarettes’ packs present no attractive colours, logos and have a standardised shape with large combined health warnings to reduce smoking rates.
During the meeting, 4 new Board members were elected: Francisco Rodriguez-Lozano from Comité nacional para la prevención del tabaquismo (CNPT), Spain; Florin Mihaltan from Romanian Prevention Forum And Aer Pur Romania; Stephen Lequet from Droits des non-fumeurs (DNF), France: and Brid Leahy from ASH Ireland. ENSP Board is now composed of 6 members representing as many countries and tobacco control organisations. Congratulations to Francisco Rodriguez-Lozano that was elected as the new President. ENSP has also launched a bright new website to strengthen its efforts to eliminate tobacco use in Europe.
As every year, on the 28th of April, the international community celebrates the International Workers’ Memorial Day. Every year globally, more than 600,000 people die due to exposure to second-hand smoke, including people that are exposed while at working, namely in the hospitality sector. To protect all workers, irrespective of their areas of work, strict legislations on smoke-free workplaces have to be adopted throughout Europe. On the 14th of April, Smoke Free Partnership has launched a new interactive map on smoke-free legislations in 32 European countries (28 EU Member States, Norway, Turkey, Iceland and Switzerland) regarding three main areas: workplaces, bars and restaurants, and public transport. The performance of each EU Member State is marked by using a traffic-light style rating (green, light green, amber and red) that enables to see if EU countries are meeting both components of good, clear, simple legislation and adequate enforcement as recommended in the 2009 Council Recommendation on smoke-free environments and in the Guidelines to Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable: new mobile app for quitters
When a smoker becomes an ex-smoker, he or she achieves something remarkable. Quitting is anything but easy, but when it’s done ex-smokers enjoy better health, better looks, more money and a boost in self-confidence. That is why the European Commission (EC) has launched a new and improved version of iCoach – a digital health coach that helps people quit smoking. This app is part of the EC campaign “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable”, which ran from 2011 to 2013, and is now being continued in 2015.
iCoach 2015 is available both online and as a mobile app for Apple and Android devices in the 23 languages of the 28 EU countries. It is free, accessible and it works! 1 in 3 of the more than 431 000 registered users of the 2011-2013 campaign stopped smoking after three months using iCoach.
Its latest feature is a special “challenger” function, so people can set personal, phase-specific challenges. For example:
- Keep track of how many cigarettes you smoke a day as you may be underestimating your habit
- Postpone the “nicest” cigarette of the day 10 times for 10 minutes and then for 20 minutes. Leave your cigarettes at home when you need to run a short errand
These challenges help smokers to set themselves small, attainable goals that once achieved, can encourage them to take on further challenges and gain control over their smoking habit.
Why not join iCoach today and set your first challenge for World No Tobacco Day on 31 May?
For more information please visit a website dedicated to the campaign: http://www.exsmokers.eu