The next step for the directive is for the Council and European Parliament to agree a final text, which should pose few problems since all three EU institutions - the Commission, the Parliament, and the Council of Ministers, are close to consensus on the issues involved.

In addition to being larger, the new health warnings will make specific reference to smoking-related conditions, including impotence and skin ageing. For the first time, manufacturers will have to submit to member states a complete list of the ingredients of each brand, and their quantities. They will also be required to state the reason for inclusion of each ingredient. The information will be made available to consumers, by, for example, websites.

The Federation of European Cancer Societies (FECS) was active in the alliance of organisations lobbying for the success of the Directive. Professor Dieter Hossfeld, FECS President said: "As representatives of all the professionals concerned in cancer care, research and treatment across Europe, tobacco control is an area close to our hearts. Over half a million EU citizens die prematurely from tobacco-related disease every year; a further 200,000 in the candidate countries are killed by smoking".

One area which has particularly concerned FECS is the increasing number of young women who smoke, and there is much evidence that they are encouraged to do so by the use of such misleading terminology as 'light cigarettes'. "There is a widespread, but erroneous, belief that such cigarettes are less harmful to health. The success of the 'light cigarette' promotion strategy has been overwhelming, particularly among women" said Professor Hossfeld. In Italy more than half of all female smokers smoke light cigarettes, and in Sweden the numbers rise to 3 out of every 4 women smokers.

In countries where strict tobacco control and effective health education campaigns are in place, smoking among men has dropped considerably over the last 20 years, and so too have death rates. Professor Hossfeld said; "We are especially alarmed to see that both smoking and the number of deaths from lung cancer are rising faster among women than among men in the EU. Lung cancer deaths among women have virtually doubled in the period 1973-1992. We are, therefore, delighted to see measures to prevent the tobacco industry ensnaring yet more smokers through the misleading promotion of 'light' products".

A number of speakers in the European Parliament debate pointed out the inconsistency of spending £1 billion per year on subsidising EU tobacco growers, a sum out of all proportion to European Union spending on cancer, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease. The Parliament adopted an amendment calling for the gradual reduction of such subsidies, and for the income this freed up to be used to develop different sources of income in the regions concerned. They also called for the establishment of an expert Tobacco Control Working Group to advise the Commission.
Mary Rice FECS

European Journal of Cancer
International Cancer News
Compiled by: Brad Timms (Acting News Editor)
European Journal of Cancer: 36 (2000) pp1725-1729
Copyright 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd

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