Belgium: could do better on smoking

The Association of European Cancer Leagues has given Belgium a poor score for its anti-smoking policies, according to an Expatica.com story.

In fact, Belgium scored 47 percent, which put it in 13th place on a list of what was said to be “some 30 European countries”; so it was in the top half, but only just.

Luk Joossens, of the Belgian Association for the Battle Against Cancer, said that prices for tobacco products in Belgium were too low to serve as a deterrent.

“Prices are lower than in neighbouring countries,” he said. “This is especially the case for rolling tobacco, where price levels here are much below those applied in France.”

“In the past five years, no new initiatives were launched to stop people from smoking. I am thinking about publicity in places where tobacco is being sold. In many European countries, this is against the law, but not in Belgium.”

The swots of the European class were said to be Ireland and the U.K., though it wasn’t mentioned how highly they scored.