On Friday 20 June in Luxembourg, Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Health, confirmed that he would be presenting a European action plan to combat cardiovascular disease (covering diabetes and obesity) and proposals to revise the directives on tobacco products, following a debate in the Council on preventive measures to reduce alcohol and tobacco consumption.
Ireland (supported by Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain) has called (https://aeur.eu/f/hhr ) for a review of tobacco legislation to protect young people from the effects of tobacco products and nicotine. These countries want new products to be covered by the legislation.
The Commissioner pointed out that non-communicable diseases represent “a major burden on our healthcare systems and our societies, accounting for around 8% of healthcare expenditure”. In 2022, cardiovascular disease represented a cost of €280 billion a year. “We heard during the discussions that around 70% of this burden could be eliminated through preventive measures”, concluded Mr Várhelyi. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)