At a hearing of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on public health on the prevention of non-communicable diseases on Thursday 1 June, a Swedish expert stunned MEPs by promoting the consumption of snus.
Fredrik Nyström, from Linköping University, spoke about the effects of snus consumption, which is said to be less harmful than cigarettes. He was interrupted during his speech, but then continued his presentation without returning to the subject of non-communicable diseases. Véronique Trillet-Lenoir (Renew Europe, French) hoped that in future the committee would be more cautious about the choice of guest experts.
Erik Poulsen (Renew Europe, Danish) said he hoped to present his draft report on non-communicable diseases to the public health subcommittee at the end of August. Cardiovascular disease kills 5,000 people in the EU every day. In his view, diagnosis and prevention need to be improved, and early detection systems put in place.
Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatian) advocated “action at European level” on non-communicable diseases.
Mental health. A draft report on this subject will be drawn up by Sara Cerdas (S&D, Portuguese).
The European Commission has confirmed that it will shortly be presenting (on 7 June, according to the provisional timetable) a communication on mental health (screening, access to care, improving quality of life, etc.). It is estimated that 84 million people in Europe are affected by a range of problems, for example, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)