Case Study
Helping Europe’s Smokers Quit
Despite the progress that has been made, smoking is still the main cause of avoidable deaths in Europe and one of the greatest public health challenges facing Europe. Efforts to discourage smoking have been focused on measures such as advertising and the creation of smoke free environments. However, the impact of these measures has been undermined because so little attention has been paid to actually helping smokers quit.
The objective of this project was to convince European policy makers that the introduction of smoke free environment legislation was not sufficient, and to really tackle the problem of smoking a more holistic approach needs to be adopted; one that is built around smoking cessation methods, including nicotine replacement therapies.
To realise this objective a coalition of smoking cessation related organisations, including doctors, cancer research organisations, pharmacists, etc., was assembled. To maximise its impact, the coalition adopted a campaign approach focused on key European media and linked to European Union public health debates. In addition to supporting European Union focused public affairs activities, this approach also allowed the coalition to reach, and impact on, opinion formers and legislative debates at the national level.
As a result of the campaign, the European Commission has acknowledged the importance of smoking cessation and integrated it into its approach to anti-smoking and, significant progress has been at Member State level in establishing the need to complement smoke free environments with strong smoking cessation policies and support.
