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29.05.2026
Unmasking the appeal of tobacco and nicotine products: JA PreventNCD and JA-SAFE in conversation on World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day is marked every year on 31 May. In 2026, the World Health Organization’s theme is “Unmasking the appeal: countering nicotine and tobacco addiction.” The campaign focuses on how tobacco and nicotine products continue to be reinvented, repackaged and marketed in ways that appeal to new generations, particularly children and adolescents. Tobacco remains one of the most important preventable causes of disease and premature death in Europe. At the same time, public health efforts are facing a changing landscape, with new nicotine products, cross-border trade, digital marketing, industry influence and regulatory gaps creating new challenges for tobacco and nicotine control. This remains a major priority for public health in Europe and for the European Commission’s wider prevention agenda. It is also reflected in two EU co-funded Joint Actions: JA PreventNCD, which addresses tobacco as a key cross-cutting theme in the prevention of cancer and other non-communicable diseases, and JA-SAFE, which focuses specifically on health promotion and disease prevention, including smoke- and aerosol-free environments. To mark World No Tobacco Day, we spoke with Hanna Ollila, Cross-cutting Theme Coordinator for Tobacco in JA PreventNCD; Taija Voutilainen, who leads JA PreventNCD work on alcohol- and tobacco-related perspectives in all policies; and Constantine Vardavas, Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Coordinator of JA-SAFE and Head of the Technical Group of Chemical and Sensory Assessors for Tobacco Product Flavours of the European Commission, about the current state of tobacco and nicotine control in Europe, the challenges ahead, and why international collaboration is essential. While the two Joint Actions have distinct roles, they are closely connected by a shared prevention agenda. JA-SAFE supports European action on smoke-free and aerosol-free environments, tobacco reduction, cessation, steps towards a tobacco-free generation, and wider health promotion and disease prevention. JA PreventNCD complements this work by addressing tobacco as part of a broader prevention agenda, recognising its role in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, while also working to reduce inequalities and strengthen action on the wider conditions that shape people’s health.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/interviews/unmasking-the-appeal-of-tobacco-and-nicotine-products-ja-preventncd-and-ja-safe-in-conversation-on-world-no-tobacco-day/
26.02.2026
Slovenian press conference highlights: Young people can too easily access alcohol and tobacco products
A recent mystery shopping monitoring study in Slovenia has revealed concerning levels of accessibility of alcohol and tobacco products to minors. At the end of February, the findings from the Health in all Policy (WP9) subtask on mystery shopping were presented at a press conference addressing youth protection and compliance with age-restriction legislation. The results demonstrated that 70% of underage mystery shoppers were able to purchase alcohol in physical stores, nearly 90% successfully purchased alcohol through online retailers, and more than 40% managed to purchase tobacco or nicotine products. Another concerning fact is that the selling points were frequently located in the vicinity of schools. Protecting young people from early exposure to harmful substances thus remains a critical public health priority. As early exposure to alcohol and nicotine significantly increases the risk of addiction, long-term health consequences, and the development of non-communicable diseases, these findings underline the urgent need for stronger enforcement of existing legislation and coordinated prevention efforts.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/news-updates/slovenian-press-conference-highlights-young-people-can-too-easily-access-alcohol-and-tobacco-products/
28.05.2025
Strengthening Tobacco Control for a Healthier Europe
Tobacco use remains among the leading preventable causes of death worldwide, contributing significantly to cancer, chronic respiratory conditions, cardiovascular diseases and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This year marks the 20th anniversary of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which has been the global driver for progress in preventing and reducing tobacco consumption. Yet, many countries are facing challenges in meeting the tobacco targets set in the Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs1, and the Sustainable Development Goals.2 A major obstacle in ending the tobacco epidemic is the interference of the tobacco industry and related entities. This is highlighted in the theme of the 2025 World No Tobacco Day (31st May): “Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products”. Despite causing millions of premature deaths and polluting the oceans with trillions of toxic and plastic cigarette butts each year,3 this industry now claims to promote a smoke-free future by marketing new addictive and harmful products to new generations. Simultaneously, it attacks governments that are adopting tobacco control policies with multiple tactics4 – while continuing to sell cigarettes. The interference is also addressed in the recent review of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which assessed the progress towards its’ “Tobacco-Free Generation” goal – namely, that less than 5% of the EU-population uses tobacco by year 2040.5 The review noted that the Commission remains strongly committed to complying with the EU’s international commitments under the WHO FCTC, including its Article 5.3, by protecting the development and implementation of its public health policies from the tobacco industry’s interference and ensuring the transparency of its interactions with representatives of the industry. This commitment is truly needed in the evaluation and revision of the EU’s legislative framework on tobacco control. In a mission letter to Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner-designate for Health and Animal Welfare, President Ursula von der Leyen called upon this revision to specifically address concerns about young people’s access to novel tobacco and nicotine products.6 New attractive designs and flavours, digital and cross-border marketing and sales, affordable prices, and uneven implementation across Member States continue to challenge prevention and endanger the EU’s “Tobacco-Free Generation” goal. The industry’s continuous product innovation and adaptation requires forward-looking, proactive, and harmonized responses across Member States. The EU needs to stand united and strong not only in revising its own legislation, but in global arenas, most importantly in the upcoming Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC. Further, more awareness of the industry tactics and the WHO FCTC obligations is needed outside the health sector – for example in the negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty. This unique opportunity to prohibit cigarette filters, that maintain false safety perceptions besides their vast environmental damage, should not be missed. The Joint Action Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (JA PreventNCD) is actively contributing to tobacco control efforts across Europe. As part of its broader mission to reduce NCDs, the project supports countries in health in all policies approach and implementing evidence-based policies and practices aligned with the WHO FCTC. It has already gathered information of monitoring practices and examples of tobacco industry interference encountered by partner countries and supported new European countries to join the 2025 Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index assessment. Ongoing work will facilitate strengthened implementation and enforcement of regulations, and improved policy monitoring for new tobacco and nicotine products. Further, several pilots provide support for the implementation of the revised Council Recommendation on smoke- and aerosol-free environments and improve provision and reach of support for the cessation of tobacco and nicotine use. By fostering collaboration among the EU Member States, JA PreventNCD helps ensure that tobacco control remains a priority in the fight against NCDs. As we commemorate 20 years of the WHO FCTC and reflect on the 2025 World No Tobacco Day theme, the message is clear: we must resist industry tactics and protect future generations from addiction and disease. This requires vigilance and unity among governments, sufficient resources for tobacco control, enforcement, monitoring and research, and support to civil society organizations that can often expose industry activities first. Further, concrete tools such as codes of conduct that explicitly address Article 5.3 are needed to raise awareness among public officials. Tobacco control – and increasingly nicotine control – is a matter of youth protection, health equity, and sustainable development. It is time to step up and ensure that the right to health and a healthy environment always comes before industry profit. Author: Hanna Ollila, Senior Specialist, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) References 1. WHO 2025. Noncommunicable Diseases, Rehabilitation and Disability. World Health Organization. Available at: ://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/updating-appendix-3-of-the-who-global-ncd-action-plan-2013-2030 2. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Goal 3 | Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3#targets_and_indicators 3. FCTC 2025. Tobacco and the environment. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Available at: https://fctc.who.int/newsroom/spotlight/environment 4. University of Bath 2024. Tobacco Industry Tactics. Available at: https://www.tobaccotactics.org/article/tobacco-industry-tactics/ 5. European Commission 2025. Review of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. Available at: https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/review-europes-beating-cancer-plan_en 6. European Commission 2024. Mission Letter. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/b1817a1b-e62e-4949-bbb8-ebf29b54c8bd_en?filename=Mission%20letter%20-%20VARHELYI.pdf
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/blog/strengthening-tobacco-control-for-a-healthier-europe/
23.09.2024
Time to close the loopholes in the free trade of tobacco
The WHO FCTC is regarded as a significant achievement in global public health efforts to control tobacco use since its adoption in 2003, currently with 183 Parties covering more than 90% of the world population. The implementation of FCTC measures has contributed to significant reductions in tobacco use prevalence, exposure to second-hand smoke, and tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in many countries. Despite these achievements, the implemented measures have focused mainly on demand reduction and less on the supply side. On the supply side, illicit trade of tobacco products has received considerable attention via the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. Yet, the interrelation between legitimate international trade and public health remains neglected, and trade of tobacco products continues to increase globally. Free trade of tobacco is causing deforestation globally While the European Union (EU) controls the illicit trade of tobacco products in the EU domestic market, tobacco is traded quite freely between the EU and its trading partners. Most tobacco products are imported into the EU market with zero tariffs and without quota restrictions through free trade agreements as well as trade preferences . Tobacco products can enter the EU market without tariffs or duties from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries via Economic Partnership Agreements as well as trade preference for the countries via the Everything but Arms scheme that removes tariffs and quotas for the imports of all tobacco products coming into the EU market. Tobacco is widely traded and grown as a cash crop in more than 125 countries. It is also a major cause of deforestation. EU member countries are major exporters and importers of tobacco products. However, tobacco is not included in the list of products under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — the EU’s new regulation to curb EU markets’ impact on global deforestation and forest degradation. The EUDR requires companies trading in cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood to conduct extensive due diligence on the supply chain to ensure the goods do not result from recent deforestation, forest degradation or breaches of local environmental and social laws. Across the globe, around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted for tobacco growing each year, contributing to deforestation of 200,000 hectares per year. Tobacco farming, production, consumption, and use are detrimental to the surrounding environment as well as the health of farmers and tobacco users. With an annual greenhouse gas contribution of 84 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent, the tobacco industry contributes to climate change and reducing climate resilience, wasting resources, and damaging ecosystems. Explicit trade provision in the WHO FCTC to control global tobacco trade While the EU is provided as an example, free trade of tobacco is uncontrolled due to trade liberalization globally. Given tobacco consumption is the single largest avoidable health risk and the most significant cause of premature death globally, controlling the international trade of tobacco products is vital. The relationship between international trade and public health should be emphasized in the WHO FCTC. It is time to close the loopholes. International trade of tobacco products and tobacco farming is impeding the achievement of numerous Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for example, SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The adverse impacts of trade liberalization could be negated by excluding tobacco products from the commitments of trade liberalization in free trade agreements and trade preferences. Individual countries, or even regions, may be powerless to address free trade, especially if confronted with tobacco industry interference and influence. In 2024, the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC (COP10) adopted a historic decision which urges Parties to take account of the environmental impacts from the cultivation, manufacture, consumption and waste disposal of tobacco products, and to strengthen the implementation of FCTC Article 18. In addition, Article 22 requires Parties to cooperate directly or through competent international bodies to strengthen their capacity for implementing the obligations. To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, close collaboration between the WHO and World Trade Organization (WTO) is crucial to find ways for exempting tobacco products from trade liberalization. This would support the adoption of forward-looking tobacco control measures [WHO FCTC Article 2.1] to better protect the health of present and future generations. COP11 should be ready to take action on free trade of tobacco products globally. Authors: Ellen Huan-Niemi is a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute in Finland (Luke). Hanna Ollila is a Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland. Eeva Ollila is Chief Medical Officer at the Cancer Society of Finland. This blog is originally published at the Tobacco Control journal -- an international peer-reviewed journal covering the nature and consequences of tobacco use worldwide; tobacco's effects on population health, the economy, the environment, and society; efforts to prevent and control the global tobacco epidemic through population-level education and policy changes; the ethical dimensions of tobacco control policies; and the activities of the tobacco industry and its allies. Link to the original blog: https://blogs.bmj.com/tc/2024/09/06/time-to-close-the-loopholes-in-the-free-trade-of-tobacco/
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/blog/time-to-close-the-loopholes-in-the-free-trade-of-tobacco/
03.06.2024
Filtered: Challenging Big Industry Narratives: Alcohol, Tobacco, Unhealthy Food and Drinks Population Measures and Policies
The "Challenging Big Industry Narratives: Alcohol, Tobacco, Unhealthy Food and Drinks Population Measures and Policies" conference, organized by the Filtered project, will take place on 27-28 June, 2024, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the Hotel Intercontinental. This event will delve into critical discussions on public health policies and the role of industry narratives in shaping health outcomes. The conference aims to provide a platform for policymakers, advocates, researchers, patients, youth, and health practitioners to collectively address the challenges of reducing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by effectively managing their main risk factors, with a special focus on alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy food and drinks. The conference will feature speakers from the World Health Organization, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and other organizations. JA PreventNCD and Filtered The JA PreventNCD and Filtered projects are closely aligned in their mission to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Europe. JA PreventNCD focuses on supporting strategies and policies to mitigate personal risk factors and address societal determinants, consistent with the objectives of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan and the "Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative." The Filtered project, an action grant complementing JA PreventNCD, specifically targets the dismantling of industry narratives that contribute to unhealthy behaviors and environments. Filtered aims to stimulate collaborative advocacy to support effective EU regulation for the prevention of NCDs. By collaborating, these projects can develop more robust and sustainable approaches to health promotion and disease prevention. Insights from Key Leaders Javiera Muñoz, Communications and Policy Officer at Eurocare, organisation leading the Filtered Consortium, emphasizes the importance of this collaboration: "The conference will provide a unique platform to challenge prevailing industry narratives that negatively impact public health. The conference will bring together experts and policymakers who work on different risk factors, mainly alcohol policies, tobacco control, policies related to unhealthy food and drinks, and the Commercial Determinants of Health to build on the successes in population measures in the past 10–20 years and foster a comprehensive understanding of how policies can be shaped to ensure healthier environments." Knut-Inge Klepp, the Scientific Coordinator of JA PreventNCD, highlights the conference's significance: "This conference will contribute to our broader mission of reducing NCDs in Europe. It allows us to integrate scientific research with practical policy measures, ensuring that our strategies are evidence-based and effectively address the root causes of these diseases. Collaborations like this enhance our capacity to implement impactful health policies across member states." Registration and More Information The conference is open to public health professionals, policymakers, researchers, and anyone interested in NCD prevention. Registration with a reduced fee is open until June 4, 2024. Late registration fees apply starting with 5 June. For more details and to register for the event, please click here. About the Filtered Project The Filtered project is one of four action grants under the EU4Health program designed to prevent cancer and other NCDs by stimulating advocacy, health promotion, action, and accountability at European and national level linked to the reduction of alcohol related harm, tobacco control and the reduction of the consumption of unhealthy foods and drinks. These projects work together to support the implementation of public health guidelines, pilot innovative practices, and develop comprehensive strategies for health promotion and disease prevention, exemplifying the EU's commitment to creating a healthier future by tackling the systemic factors that contribute to NCDs. The collaboration between Filtered and JA PreventNCD promotes synergies between various health initiatives and projects to streamline efforts and prevent duplication. The upcoming Filtered conference represents a significant step forward in the fight against NCDs. By challenging harmful industry narratives and promoting evidence-based policies, this event will contribute to the ongoing efforts of JA PreventNCD and other aligned projects. Join us in this important discussion and be part of the movement towards a healthier Europe.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/partnerships-collaborations/filtered-challenging-big-industry-narratives-alcohol-tobacco-unhealthy-food-and-drinks-population-measures-and-policies/
28.05.2024
Tobacco Trade and Farming is Impeding the Achievement of SDGs
Introduction The JA PreventNCD initiative addresses the significant burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Europe. This initiative aims to support strategies and policies that reduce the prevalence of these diseases by focusing on both personal and societal risk factors. One key aspect of this project is the Health in All Policies Work Package, which integrates health considerations into policymaking across various sectors. Within this work package, a specific task focuses on alcohol and tobacco-related perspectives in relation to agricultural and trade policies. This task is crucial for understanding why it’s essential to implement evidence-based policies to prevent and reduce the harm caused by tobacco use and trade. Tobacco trade and farming pose serious threats to public health and impede progress toward many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By advocating Health in All Policies, JA PreventNCD aims to develop a holistic strategy to mitigate the adverse impacts of tobacco globally and promote sustainable development. Tobacco Trade and Farming is Impeding the Achievement of SDGs The EU aims to use its trade agreements as tools to pursue sustainable development and encourage trading partners to uphold and improve environmental and human rights standards in their own countries as well as to mitigate climate change globally. However, this is not true concerning the liberalization of trade in tobacco products. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), across the globe, around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted for tobacco growing each year. Growing tobacco also contributes to deforestation of 200,000 hectares per year.1 Tobacco farming, production, consumption, and use are detrimental to both the surrounding environment as well as the health of farmers and tobacco users. With an annual greenhouse gas contribution of 84 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent, the tobacco industry contributes to climate change and reducing climate resilience, wasting resources, and damaging ecosystems.2 Free trade of tobacco is causing deforestation Currently, most of the tobacco products are imported into the EU market with zero tariffs and without quota restrictions through free trade agreements as well as trade preferences granted to developing and least developed countries.3 For example, concerning the free trade area between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, tobacco products can enter the EU market without paying tariffs or duties via the Economic Partnership Agreements. The Everything but Arms (EBA) scheme removes tariffs and quotas for the imports of all tobacco products coming into the EU from the least developed countries. EU member countries have not ratified the agreement with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) due to environmental concerns related to the deforestation of Brazilian rainforests. The destruction of rainforests is one of the driving forces to enact the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — EU’s new regulation to curb EU market’s impact on global deforestation and forest degradation. The EUDR requires companies trading in cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood to conduct extensive due diligence on the value chain to ensure the goods do not result from recent deforestation (post 31 December 2020), forest degradation or breaches of local environmental and social laws.4 Tobacco is also grown as a cash crop in more than 125 countries and is a major cause for deforestation. The EU is partly responsible for the deforestation as a major consumer and trader of tobacco products. EU member countries are major exporters and importers of tobacco products in the world.5 Why is tobacco not included in list of products under the EUDR? All forms of tobacco use are harmful According to the WHO, the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing over 8 million people a year around the world. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.3 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.6 All forms of tobacco use are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco. Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide. Around 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.6 Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco. This spending behaviour is difficult to curb because tobacco is so addictive. The economic costs of tobacco use are substantial and include significant health care costs for treating the diseases caused by tobacco use as well as the lost human capital that results from tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality.6 Tobacco growing has numerous negative impacts in Africa With increasing tobacco controls in the developed world, Africa can be seen as the last frontier for the tobacco industry. Smoking prevalence here is still not high. Without effective tobacco control regulations, the market potential in Africa for the tobacco industry can be immense.7 Low labour cost, as well as the right climate conditions, make these African countries easy prey for the tobacco companies. The tobacco control community must be vigilant in this fight for Africa. There are numerous negative effects of tobacco growing in Africa on farmers’ income, child labour, gender, and food & nutrition security.7 Many tobacco farmers in Africa make very low profits or farmers are highly indebted because the price of tobacco leaf is low and mainly controlled by the tobacco industry through a stringent leaf grading system.7 Malawi has the highest occurrence of child labour with 78,000 children who work on tobacco estates, for long hours, with low pay and without protective clothing. In Uganda, tobacco growing communities have their children failing to start school, where 4 out of 10 boys never go to school and 6 out of every 10 girls never go to school because they have to provide labour to the tobacco farms all year round.8 Women and children are the main source of labour for tobacco growing, mostly done by hand, without any protective wear. Tobacco farming in Africa mainly survives on family labour, where women and children provide most of the labour to minimize costs because tobacco farming requires an average of 18 hours per farmer per day. The International Labour Organization revealed that children working on tobacco plantations/farms in Tanzania did not get adequate food, whereby out of 100 working children in the tobacco growing districts, only 19% had meals three times a day.8 Tobacco products should be excluded from the commitments of trade liberalization Overall, international trade of tobacco products and tobacco farming in Africa is impeding the achievement of many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)9 — SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Therefore, trade preferences, bilateral and free trade agreements could positively contribute to the attainment of the SDGs together with tobacco control by excluding tobacco products from the commitments of trade liberalization. Tobacco must be included in list of products under the EUDR to mitigate climate change globally as well as to uphold and improve environmental and human rights standards, especially in Africa with the fastest growing population in the world. Author: Ellen Huan-Niemi, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) References 1 Geist, H.J. 1999. Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco farming. Tobacco Control, 8:18–28. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.8.1.18 2 WHO 2022. Tobacco is poisoning our planet #TobaccoExposed, Tobacco Free initiative. World Health Organization. Available at https://www.emro.who.int/tfi/news/tobacco-is-poisoning-our-planet-tobaccoexposed.html 3 EU Customs Tariff Database. Available at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en 4 EU Regulation 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 5 World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) Database. Available at https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/ALL/year/2021/tradeflow/Imports/partner/WLD/product/240220 (top importing countries)https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/ALL/year/2021/tradeflow/Exports/partner/WLD/product/240220 (top exporting countries) 6 WHO 2023. Key Facts, Tobacco. World Health Organization. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco 7 Hu, T.W. & Lee, A.H. 2015. Commentary: Tobacco control and tobacco farming in African countries. J Public Health Policy, 36(1): 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2014.47 8 Center For Tobacco Control in Africa 9 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Available at https://sdgs.un.org/goals
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/blog/tobacco-trade-and-farming-is-impeding-the-achievement-of-sdgs/
29.05.2026
New campaign to make prevention clearer and more accessible
JA PreventNCD is preparing to launch a new campaign aimed at policymakers, professionals, communities and the wider public, helping more people understand what prevention is about and why healthier choices must be made easier, fairer and more accessible for everyone. The campaign will be presented during the JA PreventNCD General Assembly in Rome, taking place from 9–11 June 2026 at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. The General Assembly will bring partners together to share project achievements, reflect on progress and discuss the way forward for strengthening prevention across Europe. The launch session, “Campaigns as a Strategic Tool in Today’s Attention Economy: Premiere of JA PreventNCD’s New Campaign,” will be presented by Live Bøe Johannesen from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The campaign focuses on four major shared risk factors for cancer and other non-communicable diseases: alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, nutrition and physical activity. It uses clear, accessible and motivating messages to show how prevention is connected to everyday life, from what people eat and how active they are to the environments, products, policies and communities that shape health. To learn more about the thinking behind the campaign, we spoke with Thea Nørgaard Breili from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, project leader of the campaign, about its aims, messages and development process. Can you briefly introduce the new JA PreventNCD campaign and explain what it aims to achieve? "The campaign aims to put prevention of NCDs on the agenda for both stakeholders, policymakers and general public. We aim to increase awareness of the benefits of prevention, highlight accessible measures that can be implemented, and strengthen public support for potential interventions. Non-communicable diseases are often discussed using specialised public health terminology, but many of the risk factors are closely connected to everyday life. What people eat, how active they are, whether tobacco, nicotine or alcohol products are widely available, and how communities are planned all influence health. The campaign shows that prevention is not only about telling individuals to change their behaviour. It is also about creating healthier environments through policy, regulation, planning, services and community action." What are the campaign’s key messages? "The key message shared across the campaign is that through small changes, whether structural or personal, we can all contribute to better health, both in the short and long term. This applies to stakeholders, policymakers and the general public. The campaign shows that everyone has a role to play, from those shaping policies and environments to individuals and communities taking practical steps in everyday life." The campaign was developed in close collaboration with participating member countries. How did that collaboration shape the final concept and messaging? "The collaboration helped us see prevention from many different perspectives. JA PreventNCD brings together partners from across Europe, and that diversity has been important in shaping a campaign that can appeal to a broader audience. At the same time, the collaboration pushed us to define and prioritise a shared direction that all partners could support and work towards together. Through this process, we identified a set of unifying and important messages that strengthen both the collaboration and the overall communication of the project." How did you balance the need for a shared European campaign with different national contexts, languages and public health priorities? "JA PreventNCD has chosen to focus on four shared risk factors: alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, nutrition and physical activity. This gives us a common starting point that all partners can recognise and build from. Based on this, and in close cooperation with the thematic coordinators, we developed simple and important messages that are aligned with research and evidence, while still being easy to understand and motivating for the audience. Creating messages that are relevant across different countries and public health priorities can be challenging. But this process helped us lift our gaze and focus on the overarching messages that apply across contexts. To make the material more inclusive, we included different ethnicities, personalities and characters while keeping one clear storyline. The animated world also gives us more freedom in how we show the setting. It does not have to be one specific real place, or it could be anywhere. The film includes elements such as a city, suburban areas, trees, roads, parks and houses, with the idea that it should not be too clear whether we are in Northern or Southern Europe."
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/interviews/new-campaign-to-make-prevention-clearer-and-more-accessible/