Tag: Beating Cancer Plan

  • EU Urged to Adopt Science-Based Strategy

    EU Urged to Adopt Science-Based Strategy

    Photo: yavdat

    Consumer representatives are urging European policymakers to adopt science-based tobacco harm reduction strategies as EU health ministers gather in Brussels for a two-day meeting to discuss Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, among other topics.

    The Beating Cancer Plan presents several legislative initiatives to address cancer risk factors, including measures to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption and improve healthy diets.

    “This meeting should mark the beginning of driving the EU towards a smoke-free future,” said Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers Alliance, in a statement. “Health ministers should take inspiration from Sweden, poised to become the first smoke-free country in the world, thanks largely to the adoption of safer and less harmful alternatives. It remains vital that the EU follow their example and enforce sensible regulation.”

    However, according to Landl, the EU Commission has thus far been “deaf” to the science of tobacco policies. “It is crystal clear that safer nicotine alternatives such as vaping or pouches are significantly less harmful than smoking and effectively aid in smoking cessation,” he said.

    “EU health ministers have a critical opportunity this week to advocate for sensible regulations that could prevent 700,000 unnecessary deaths annually due to smoking. The Beating Cancer Plan acknowledges that vaping can help smokers quit. Politicians must act accordingly. ”

  • EU to Review Feedback on Tobacco Framework

    EU to Review Feedback on Tobacco Framework

    Photo: mbruxelle

    The European Commission has collected feedback from almost 25,000 organizations, experts and citizens about its legislative framework for tobacco control. Its initial call for evidence feedback period ended June 17.

    The Commission will use the feedback to evaluate to what extent the legislative framework has fulfilled its goals and whether it is able to support a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040, as announced in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

    Participants included organization such as the Independent European Vaping Alliance (IEVA), which identified several opportunities for improvement.

    “The European e-cigarette market is one of the most regulated and safest worldwide. IEVA supports the tobacco product directive which has allowed for safe products to be made available to EU consumers. These rules have prevented irresponsible business—as we unfortunately have witnessed in the U.S., where the vaping market was not regulated—and whose behaviors we most vehemently condemn,” the IEVA wrote in a statement.

    “We would like to use this submission to present areas that merit further consideration through the process of evaluating the Tobacco Products Directive which we believe have not been addressed through the process thus far. We will focus on three core areas which we believe need to be further explored in any discussion about a legislative review: the impact on smokers, the impact on SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and employment, and the impact on illicit trade.”

    The IEVA’s full contribution can be viewed here.

    The European Commission will hold a public consultation in the fourth quarter of 2022 and anticipates adoption in the second quarter of 2023.

  • IEVA: Risk of EU Flavor Ban Remains

    IEVA: Risk of EU Flavor Ban Remains

    Dustin Dahlmann (Photo: IEVA)

    The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) welcomed the decision of MEPs to recognize tobacco harm reduction as a tool in beating cancer; but remains concerned that the report approved today by the European Parliament leaves the door open to a flavor ban in the EU.

    The Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) recently voted on the amendments and the draft of the Beating Cancer report by Rapporteur Véronique Trillet-Lenoir. The authors of the report identify smoking as one of the main causes of cancer and IEVA agrees that everything should be done to significantly reduce the smoking rate in Europe.

    “There is little scientific doubt that tobacco harm reduction is a key tool in achieving this goal,” the IEVA wrote in a press note. “Even those skeptical of tobacco harm reduction concede that vaping is many orders of magnitude less harmful than continuing to smoke. According to Public Health England, e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco and the risk of cancer drops by 99.6 percent.”

    The reports’ compromise amendment on vaping includes the recognition of vaping as a tool to help some smokers quit smoking and the need for further research on vaping to be done in relative terms (i.e. in comparison to combustible tobacco).

    But the final text of the report also includes a mention of further assessment of flavors “particularly attractive to minors and non-smokers” and a possible ban on them in the context of the review of the Tobacco Products Directive.

    “European Parliament reports like this are necessarily a compromise,” said IEVA President Dustin Dahlmann. “IEVA notes that the variety of flavors is one of the most important reasons for smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and for vapers not to go back to smoking. A ban on flavors would eliminate one of the main advantages of the e-cigarette over the tobacco cigarette—an improved taste.”

    “We also see that the importance of the e-cigarette for quitting smoking is recognized and that the risks of vaping are planned to be assessed even more in relation to the risks of smoking in the future. This approach must be pursued, and not undermined by banning most products on the market today.”

  • Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: A Missed Opportunity

    Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: A Missed Opportunity

    Photo: Paulgrecaud | Dreamstime.com

    The European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan fails to recognize the potential of safer nicotine products.

    By Stefanie Rossel

    In February, the European Commission (EC) presented its Beating Cancer Plan (BCP), which named tobacco as the top avoidable risk factor. According to the EC, tobacco use is responsible for 15 percent to 20 percent of all European cancer cases, which corresponds to 525,000 to 700,000 new diagnoses each year. The BCP aims for less than 5 percent of the EU population to use tobacco by 2040, thus creating a “tobacco-free generation.”

    To achieve this, the EC wants to tighten tobacco regulations, increase minimum taxation rates on tobacco products and harmonize the taxation of novel products. “As well as dealing with traditional tobacco products, addressing the next generation of tobacco and related products will remain a priority as new products, such as heated-tobacco and others, continue to enter the market,” the EC states on its website. The EC will also review legislation on cross-border tobacco purchases and address tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships. Member states will receive support in their implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

    Damian Sweeney

    The plan was met with criticism by consumer organizations and trade associations. “The Beating Cancer Plan doesn’t just fail to make a distinction between the relative risks of combustible and noncombustible products, it also fails to recognize that low-risk alternatives like e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products are substitutes for the extremely hazardous combustible products,” says Damian Sweeney, a partner in the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA).

    “The plan proposes stricter rules on novel products, including a ban on nontobacco flavors, plain packaging, taxation and recommendations to member states to prohibit vaping in public spaces. Such severe restrictions on low-risk alternatives to smoking will serve to protect the cigarette trade and perpetuate smoking. It is an abject failure on the part of the EU to ignore the important role safer nicotine products can play in getting Europeans to quit smoking,” says Sweeney.

    Dustin Dahlmann, president of the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA), a group that includes national associations, companies, manufacturers and wholesalers, says the EU strategy ignores harm reduction as an important instrument for public health. “Public Health England (PHE) estimates that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking,” he says. “According to studies reviewed by PHE, vapers have a 99.5 percent lower risk of getting cancer than smokers. Many other studies show the great harm reduction potential of vaping. Ignoring these facts means ignoring the scientific evidence.”

    According to Dahlmann, ignoring the scientific basis for harm reduction is tantamount to climate change denial. “The EU must understand that too,” he says. “It is about the effective reduction of the smoking rate in Europe. In Great Britain, the smoking rate has been massively reduced within a few years with the help of vaping. The U.K. ranks first on the tobacco control scale, which shows the success of their sensible tobacco control measures. The EU must take this policy as an example if it is serious about its plans to reduce cancer.”

    Dustin Dahlmann

    Difficult Road Ahead

    Sweeney predicts a gloomy future for tobacco harm reduction (THR) in the EU if legislation sticks to the BCP. THR, he points out, is already facing challenges in the EU, with excessive regulations planned in Denmark, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain. “These include flavor bans, plain packaging, increased taxation, online sales bans and bans on vaping in public spaces. If EU legislation follows the proposals in the plan, it will be disastrous for THR and for the health of millions of EU citizens. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Report, 57 percent of vapers have completely quit or reduced their smoking, and an overwhelming majority use nontobacco flavors,” he says.

    “There is no doubt that the measures will affect millions of vapers, depriving them of the lifesaving products they use to remain smoke-free and forcing many back to smoking or to obtaining their products on the black market. Even worse is that current and future smokers will be deprived of the opportunity to improve their own health by switching to safer nicotine products. It is imperative that we consumers of safer nicotine products are listened to. We have an in-depth knowledge of the products and of the many difficulties people face when trying to quit smoking,” says Sweeney.

    Back in its Box

    Whether the EC’s “quit or die” approach will achieve the desired effect remains to be seen. By eliminating tobacco use, the BCP committee argues, nine out of every 10 lung cancer cases should be avoided. “However, if old and unsuccessful tobacco control strategies are retained, the plan cannot succeed,” Dahlmann predicts. “Public health policy decisions need to be evidence-based. Public Health England recently published the seventh report on e-cigarettes. The facts presented speak a clear language: E-cigarettes are effective means of quitting smoking and can help millions of people reduce the risks of tobacco use. ‘Quit or die’ is a cynical attitude and leaves the mass of smokers alone who cannot just quit.”

    Sweeney, too, is pessimistic about the BCP. “The proposed measures are unscientific and ignore the experience of millions of citizens who have quit smoking using safer nicotine products,” he says. “Reducing smoking prevalence requires a new approach, which takes into account the technological advances which allow citizens to consume nicotine without being exposed to the cancerous compounds generated from combustion. Doubling down on outdated ‘quit-or-die’ policies and applying them to safer nicotine products is more likely to increase the ‘die’ part of that equation than the ‘quit’ part. Countries where safer nicotine products have been permitted to flourish, such as Sweden and the U.K., have been rewarded by steep drops in smoking prevalence. Countries which rely on traditional tobacco control measures are performing a lot less well. The EU should take a lesson from this.”

    The Beating Cancer Plan’s stance on tobacco harm reduction is strikingly similar to the EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks’ (SCHEER) preliminary opinion on e-cigarettes, which was presented in September 2020. The draft report was heavily criticized by academics, scientific experts and consumer associations for failing to compare the risks of vaping with the risks of smoking (see “Proper Context,” Tobacco Reporter, February 2021). Although only a preliminary opinion at that point, the findings of the document, which Dahlmann calls “fundamentally flawed,” appear to have made their way into the wording of the BCP. “From comments made in the BCP press conference, it looks as though the SCHEER report will be used as the scientific basis for the plan’s proposals for safer nicotine products, which is a huge concern,” says Sweeney. “The BCP has also stated that the Tobacco Products Directive [TPD] and the Tobacco Taxation Directive will be used to apply the proposals. The commission has made their intentions for tobacco control clear in the plan: They intend to pursue traditional tobacco control measures and will use EU directives to try to put tobacco harm reduction back in its box. The commission fully intends to ignore the voices of millions of us consumers, who have improved our health by switching to safer nicotine products.”

    Following an open public consultation that received ample response, the SCHEER committee was expected to adopt its final opinion during its plenary meeting in March. “We hope and expect that, given the depth of comments the committee has received, that it will decide that it is the time to reevaluate its findings,” Dahlmann states. “Decision-makers in the European Union have to make policy decisions in the best interests of Europeans. Ignoring THR would be a fatal mistake.”

    Science Over Ideology

    Much will depend on the EU’s attitude toward THR this year. By May 20, the commission will have to submit a report assessing the TPD. This review report will clarify which parts of the TPD the commission deems necessary to amend. The commission thus finds itself in the unusual situation that its approach may point the way for the FCTC’s ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9), which had to be postponed to this November due to the coronavirus crisis. “This report will be important to the position that the EU will take at the COP meeting,” Sweeney comments. “On the other hand, the hostility of the WHO and the FCTC secretariat toward safer nicotine products is very clear, so even if the report is favorable toward safer nicotine products, it is still going to be an uphill battle for THR at COP.”

    Dahlmann calls on the WHO to recognize the harm reduction potential of e-cigarettes. “The evaluation of vaping must be based on scientific facts,” he says. “These clearly show the public health potential of harm reduction, and it is the responsibility of the WHO to make sure smokers know the facts. Many smokers do not know that e-cigarettes are much less harmful for them than smoking. By the end of 2021, a lot more people should be able to separate myths from facts when it comes to tobacco harm reduction.”

    While the road ahead is bumpy, the battle for public health’s recognition of THR is not yet lost. “Despite everything that is going on and the constant bombardment of negative press and misinformation, I am quietly confident that common sense will win the day,” Sweeney says. “The fact that those opposed to THR don’t engage on the science but rely on ad hominem attacks and extremely suspect research tells me that they know they can’t win the battle based on facts. We are talking about saving people’s lives; this type of policy should be fact-based. It should not be a puritanical crusade against nicotine consumers and pro-THR scientists.

    “Engaging with your elected MEPs is the best way to foster change; they were elected by the people, and their job is to represent the people. There are millions of us consumers of safer nicotine products in the EU, and we make up a substantial voting bloc. It’s more important than ever to make our voices heard and to let the politicians know that the unintended consequences of denying access to THR products will be dire.”

    “The scientific evidence for the potential of the e-cigarette continues to grow,” says Dahlmann. “Two Cochrane reviews have concluded that vaping is a good means of stopping tobacco, likewise Public Health England. There are many researchers around the world who have delivered convincing results on the subject of tobacco harm reduction. We expect many more publications in the next few months to expand the knowledge base about vaping. Decision-makers who are serious about tobacco control should recognize what the science is telling them.”

    Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.
  • Critics: Beating Cancer Plan Protects Tobacco

    Critics: Beating Cancer Plan Protects Tobacco

    Photo: Paulgrecaud – Dreamstime.com

    Tobacco harm reduction activists have expressed concern about new measures proposed in the European Union’s recently published Beating Cancer Plan. According to the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), the measures would make low-risk products such as e-cigarettes and smoke-free tobacco products less effective and attractive as alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

    According to the ETHRA, the plan fails to make a distinction between harmful smoking products and smoke-free alternatives, and signals that the European Commission intends to turn its back on innovation and science by cracking down on vaping.

    “The effect would be to protect the tobacco industry, reduce the number of Europeans quitting smoking by switching to low-risk alternatives, and add to the overall burden of cancer—exactly the opposite of the aim of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan,” the ETHRA wrote in a letter to the European Parliament members on the Special Committee on Beating Cancer.

    The ETHRA also expressed concern about plans to ban nontobacco flavors for e-liquids. “Such an approach is one step short of outright prohibition,” the organization wrote. “It will trigger a range of undesirable reactions among both vapers and smokers—including relapse to smoking among vapers, reduced switching among smokers, increased illicit activity and cross-border trade, workarounds, more home mixing, and the formation of informal, unregulated markets.”

    According to the EHTRA, other proposed measured, such as taxes, public vaping bans and plain packaging would provide further regulatory protection of the cigarette category. “The plan fails to recognize the interaction between smoking and vaping and is naïve about the perverse consequence of the regulatory intervention,” the ETHRA wrote.

    The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA), meanwhile, welcomed the EU Beating Cancer Plan but urged regulators to use all means at hand to minimize smoking rates.

    “We welcome the EU Beating Cancer Plan,” said IEVA Chairman Dustin Dahlmann in a statement. “The strategy needs to consider all means available to reduce the burden of cancer related risks: It is of utmost importance that preventive measures are flanked by tobacco harm reduction. Otherwise, millions of smokers might miss the opportunity to tremendously reduce their risk of cancer.”