CPE Webinar Series: Smoking Cessation – A Step Towards a Cancer-Free Environment – EWAC 2024
This webinar, part of CPE’s European Week Against Cancer 2024 series organized with EFPIA Oncology Platform support, examines tobacco control and smoking cessation inequalities across EU Member States as a critical cancer prevention priority. Expert panelists including MEPs, public health officials, tobacco control advocates, and patient representatives discuss disparities in tobacco legislation implementation, smoking cessation program availability, and cessation support access. Key topics include variations in tobacco taxation and pricing policies across countries, differences in smoke-free legislation enforcement, access gaps to cessation pharmacotherapies and counseling services, inequalities in cessation success rates by socioeconomic status, emerging challenges from e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and the disproportionate impact of tobacco use on vulnerable populations. The session analyzes how inadequate tobacco control perpetuates cancer incidence inequalities and presents policy recommendations: adoption of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control guidelines across all Member States, comprehensive smoke-free legislation, increased tobacco taxation, universal access to cessation support including medications and behavioral therapy, targeted cessation programs for high-risk groups, and EU-wide campaigns to denormalize smoking and prevent youth initiation.