© European Union , 2016
October 2016
ENSP Capacity Building Event and Network Meeting
19-21 October - Ljubljana, Slovenia
The ENSP Capacity Building Event and Network Meeting welcomes ENSP members and wider stakeholders with the aim to provide updated information, practical tools and above all, support them in their respective projects. This year, with the support of the Slovenian Government and national NGOs the event is held in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 19 to 21 October 2016. Registered delegates include national representatives, Healthcare professionals, NGOs, academics, experts and also young people from around Europe.

Combining presentations and moderated workshops, the two-and-a-half-day event will focus on the following four topics:

  • Tackling tobacco interference
  • TPD and plain packaging
  • Tobacco Dependence Treatment
  • Youth Advocacy

On Friday 21 October, the morning session takes place at the Slovenian National Council in front of an audience of high-level government representatives, in order to show international support for the Slovenian new tobacco law.

There are only few places left. Register now.
The draft program is available here.

Romanian President endorses national strategy at high-level event

On 8 September 2016 ENSP and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids organised the high-level event Roadmap to Tobacco Free Romania 2035 in Bucharest, Romania, under the auspices of President of Romania His Excellency Klaus Werner lohannis. The event marked the joint call to action for Romania’s first holistic and whole-system approach to tobacco control. Around 200 national government representatives and international stakeholders active in tobacco control attended the event and advocated for the adoption of the strategy. In his opening speech, President Klaus Werner Iohannis reiterated the rejection of any amendments to the smoke-free law proposed on the occasion of adopting the TPD provisions.

On 4 October a joint debate was held between three commissions - Health, Industry and Legal - at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, all of which are responsible for the report on the combined law on TPD and amendments to the smoke-free law. The amendments proposed to weaken the provisions of the smoke-free law were rejected. The final report will go to the plenary vote on Monday 10 October.

Read more about the event.
National Congress of the Romanian Society of Pneumology
On 3-5 October 2016, the Romanian Society of Pneumology organises the National Congress on Pneumology with ENSP as partner. Aiming to create a bridge between generations of pneumologists the Congress focuses on enabling new generations of specialists in respiratory diseases and facilitating the transfer of experience and knowledge to new generations.
ENSP President Francisco Rodriguez Lozano notes on the occasion of the Congress: "On behalf of ENSP, I would like to provide my full support to the Romanian Society of Pneumology for a tobacco endgame in Romania. The objective to reduce the prevalence below 5% is ambitious but already positions Romania as one of the international leaders in tobacco control."

Read the full statement.
EQUIPT Final project conference, 27 September 2016 in Brussels
The EU Project EQUIPT held a successful Final Project Conference in Brussels on 27 September 2016. Speakers presented details on project results and offered a demonstration of the EQUIPT Return On Investment (ROI), which aims to provide policy makers and wider stakeholders with bespoke information about the economic and wider returns that can be generated from investing in evidence-based tobacco control including smoking cessation agendas.

Over 80 stakeholders, policy makers and project contributors active in tobacco control and health economics participated at the conference through detailed presentations and in-depth discussions on the EQUIPT project and its future use to build new cases for toabcco control activity.

The full report of the conference is available here.
Read more about EQUIPT on www.equipt.eu
ENSP and ERS signs Memorandum of Understanding
On 7 September 2016, ENSP and the European Respiratory Society, ERS, formalised their collaboration on tobacco control objectives in a memorandum of understanding.

The memorandum is based on a series of past successful collaborations. ENSP and ERS have organised the World No Tobacco Day event in the European Parliament on Plain Packaging in May 2016. Additionally, the two organisations have been successful in a campaign to end the European Commission’s agreement with Philip Morris. The organisations have further collaborated effectively on Tobacco Control conferences and other high level meetings and actions throughout Europe including the ERS International Congress 2016 in London and the ENSP event in Bucharest on 8 September. In the context of this excellent collaboration it is valuable to formally plan future joint actions to maximise the parameters of the partnership.

ENSP President Francisco Rodriguez Lozano says: “With the memorandum we are building on our former successful collaboration and look forward to continue working together in order to unify our strengths and reach future accomplishments in European tobacco control."
8th Meeting of the EU Group of Experts on Tobacco Policy
The Group of Experts on Tobacco Policy holds its 8th meeting on 26 October to discuss Transposition of the Tobacco Products Directive, Labelling and Packaging and Reporting and notification of tobacco and electronic cigarettes among others. The Expert Group is a consultative body set up by the Commission to provide advice and expertise.
The Group of Experts on Tobacco Policy consists of representatives from public authorities all 28 Member States.

See the meeting's draft agenda.
Read more about the Group of Experts on Tobacco Policy.
EU track-and-trace company with links to the tobacco industry
New EU legislation, as well as upcoming World Health Organisation (WHO) rules, specify that the EU track-and-trace system, which helps tobacco firms and customs authorities find out where a pack of cigarettes was produced, must be independently owned.

To comply with the new rules the track-and-trace company Inexto, now takes over from the company Codentify, which has been deemed non-compliant with WHO protocol recommendations on tracking and tracing, as it was owned by the tobacco industry. Critics however note that Inexto also has close links with the tobacco industry.

Three out of four board members with authority to sign for Inexto have previously worked in Philip Morris International, and one of them, Philippe Chatelain, is still currently listed as an executive of Philip Morris Product SA.

The FCTC Secretariat expresses sincere doubts about the independence of the new company.

Read more here.

WHO Report: Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems
A recent report from the FCA Secretariat on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) covers updates on the evidence of the health impact of ENDS/ENNDS, their potential role in tobacco cessation and their impact on tobacco control efforts.
The report states that the levels of toxicants in ENDS can vary enormously across and within brands and sometimes reach higher levels than in tobacco smoke. It further finds that the evidence available so far is sufficient to warn children and adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age against use of ENDS.

Read the full report.
Access further resources on the FCA Secretariat website.

Horizon Magazine: Are there passive smoking risks from e-cigarettes?

On 27 September the EU Research and Innovation magazine, Horizon Magazine, featured an article on the research carried out on electronic cigarettes within the EU projects TackSHS and EUREST-PLUS.

Prof. Esteve Fernandez, project coordinator of TackSHS, says to the Horizon Magazine: ‘Electronic cigarettes do not produce combustion of tobacco – in fact they don’t even contain tobacco. But because most users use charges containing nicotine they do produce tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.' The TackSHS project researches the effects of second-hand emissions on people’s health, taking into account differences in lifestyles, economic conditions and levels of legislation both from e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes.

EUREST-PLUS sets out to assess the impact of public health legislation, and especially the TPD, on the population. Dr Constantine Vardavas, project coordinator of EUREST-PLUS notes that ‘[E-cigarettes] is an area in which there is insufficient evidence and that is why we want to investigate how they modify smoking, whether the e-cigarette legislation to protect consumers and rules to protect non-users such as child-proof caps, actually have an impact on a population basis.’

Read the full article.

EUREST-PLUS and TackSHS presented at ERS International Congress 2016

The EU projects EUREST-PLUS and TackSHS were presented at the ERS International Congress in London on 5 September 2016. EUREST-PLUS project coordinator, Dr Constantine Vardavas, presented the main objectives of EUREST-PLUS and conveyed the added value of the research in monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the Tobacco Products Directives within the context of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ratification at a European level. Dr Vardavas further presented the project overview of TackSHS and its research on the effects of second-hand emissions on health.

Read more about the ERS Congress

Pan European Networks: Progress and challenges ahead in European
Tobacco Control
On 20 May 2016, European citizens in all 28 members states woke up to a new era in public health with the entry into force of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The Directive sets out a number of clear measures to prevent people from smoking, with the aim to specifically protect the younger generations.
In this article published in the Pan European Networks ENSP Health Policy and Communication Manager, Dominick Nguyen, outlines the progress and challenges ahead in European Tobacco Control following the entry into force of the TPD. Read more about the TPD provisions on flavouring, packaging, e-cigarettes, implementation of the Directive in all EU member states as well as ENSP work on illicit trade and priorities for the future in the full article.
Risks of re-introducing smoking areas within French high schools

Last year, the French tobacco control community won a court case against the re-introduction of smoking areas within French high schools. Unfortunately, since September this year, the Union of School Principals, supported by the Federation of parents, and the Union of Police Commissioners have been on the offensive with high media interest and coverage.

In partnership with other French NGOs Droit des Non Fumeurs (DNF) has drafted an open letter to support the French Minister and her position not to provide any exemption to allow smoking in schools signed by 75 european organisations.

Read the full letter (French).

JTI in partnership with the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has recently been mentioned in a press release posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in relation to the financial support of a European scholarship program for Moldovan journalists. This partnership challenges Article 17(10) of the Tobacco Control Act of Moldova, which prohibits the state central authorities any partnerships with tobacco industry.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies to violate any article of the Tobacco Control Act, legal specialists withhold its breach of the law. Lawyer Ion Dodon notes: "The idea is that when you read [the letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs], you understand that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepts and promotes the partnership, the tobacco industry has with other institutions."

Read the full articles from 21 September and 27 September
Brazil sees large decline in smoking prevalence over 25 years

Brazil has experienced a large decline in smoking prevalence due to several tobacco control policies that were implemented in the past 25 years. Population-wide studies have found a consistent reduction in daily cigarette consumption among all socioeconomic groups over time.

A recent study examining the changes between 2008 and 2013 in tobacco behaviours and health-related conditions of smokers concludes that tobacco control interventions implemented in Brazil in the past years seem to be effectively reaching the smoking population. The study highlights the findings as strong evidence against the ‘hardening hypothesis’, which posits that remaining smokers decrease their willingness and ability to quit.

Read the full article.
New Study: Fathers' smoking increases children's risk of asthma
Whereas it is generally accepted that maternal environment plays a key role in child health, emerging evidence suggests that paternal environment before conception also impacts child health. A recent longitudinal, multi-country study shows that environmental exposures in young men appear to influence the respiratory health of their offspring born many years later.
The study shows that non-allergic early-onset asthma was more common in the offspring with fathers who smoked before conception than for those who did not.

Read the full study.
© European Union , 2016
New Published Articles

Increasing hookah use among adolescent females in the US: analyses from the 2011-2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS)
Jenni A. Shearston, Su Hyun Park, Lily Lee, Charles Oshinsky, Scott Sherman, Michael Weitzman

Irish Healthcare staff- Smoking, training and activity in treatment of tobacco dependence -an online survey
Sheila Keogan, Annette Burns, Kate Babineau, Luke Clancy

Misperceptions about “light” cigarettes among smokers in Zambia: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Zambia Survey
Susan C Kaai, Geoffrey T Fong, Annika C Green, Fastone Goma, Gang Meng, Anne CK Quah, Ron Borland, Masauso M Phiri, Tara Elton-Marshall

Negative perceptions of parental smoking among 61810 Hong Kong adolescents: Α cross sectional school based survey
Jian Jiu Chen, Sai Yin Ho, Man Ping Wang, Tai Hing Lam

Characteristics of shisha smoking venues in a satellite township near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: an observational study
Kalyan C Gundavarapu, Daniel D Dicksit, Srinivas Sulugodu Ramachandra

© European Union , 2016
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