The European Union’s executive branch proposed Wednesday a ban on the sale of flavored heated tobacco products, including some vaping items, as part of its plan to fight cancer.
According to the European Commission, the proposal was made in response to an increase in sales of these products across 27 countries.
The recent Commission Study showed an increase of 10% in heated tobacco products sales across more than 5 member countries, and heated tobacco products account for over 2.5% of the total region’s tobacco products sales.
However, the ban will not be applied to vaping products that use heated tobacco. E-cigarettes do not contain nicotine.
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“With nine out of 10 lung cancers caused by tobacco, we want to make smoking as unattractive as possible to protect the health of our citizens and save lives,” said Stella Kyriakides, the commissioner for health and food Safety.
E.U. According to E.U. figures, cancer ranks second in deaths among the bloc’s 450 million inhabitants. In the E.U., there are approximately 1.3million cancer deaths each year and about 3.5million new cases every year.
About 40% of EU citizens are affected by cancer. A staggering 40% of European Union citizens will experience cancer at one time or another. This has an economic impact on the economy that is estimated to be around 100 billion euro ($120 billion) annually.
The European Commission stated previously that it wanted to see less than 5% use tobacco in 2040.
The ban’s proposal now goes to member nations and European Parliament lawmakers for review.
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