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28.06.2024
JA PreventNCD participation at FILTERED Conference: Joint efforts to tackle the challenges of reducing NCDs
JA PreventNCD was present with several participants at the two-day conference “Challenging Big Industry Narratives: Alcohol, Tobacco, Unhealthy Food and Drinks - Population Measures and Policies”. The conference was organized by the action grant FILTERED (From sILos To synErgies to pRevEnt ncDs), with support from the Ministry of Health, Slovenia. At the conference, numerous topics relevant to JA PreventNCD’s work were discussed, including regulation of marketing, taxation, health warnings, awareness raising, conflicts of interest and commercial influences in policymaking processes. In the opening of the conference, the Slovenian Minister of Health, Denis Kordež, highlighted that the risk factors for NCDs are multisectoral in nature, and therefore require multisectoral responses. One such important response is addressing the commercial determinants of health. Several speakers and discussants stressed the need for joint efforts, across risk factors and across borders to counter industry efforts to avoid and delay regulations protecting public health. On the first day, Arnfinn Helleve, leader of JA PreventNCD’s work on Regulation and taxation (WP5), joined a panel, discussing opportunities for taxation of products harming health. In a session on the effects of health warning labels, Karine Gallopel-Morvan and Maj Berger Sæther, from the same WP, discussed evidence and national experiences regarding alcohol warning labels. Mojca Gabrijelčič leader of the JA PreventNCD work on sustainability (WP4) participated in discussions on awareness-raising campaigns for policy change, sharing experiences from the STOP project. Lastly, Dr Sandra Rados Krnel from Health in All Policies (WP9) participated in the discussion on implementing marketing restrictions on health-harming products. On the second day, Scientific Coordinator, Knut-Inge Klepp, joined a panel on navigating diverse definitions and meanings in the field of prevention. Klepp highlighted JA PreventNCD’s efforts to accelerate prevention activities along the entire causal chain, with a particular focus on population-based interventions addressing social and environmental conditions for health. Additionally, Urška Erklavec participated in the plenary panel discussion on “Forward Together: Exploring Future Partnerships and Collective Action”. The conference also featured a side event by representatives of the sustainability WP of JA PreventNCD. In the first presentation, Monika Brovč focused on sustainable development in policies and presented transition of the main three nutritional policies from JA Best-ReMaP to JA PreventNCD. Following this, Monika Robnik Levart shared insights from previous projects involving multistakeholder engagement and discussed sustainable planning, putting accountability cycle in the center, along with their vision about sustainability for JA PreventNCD. Jernej Trebežnik then presented some aspects of lobbying, advocacy, and accountability in public health, pointing out the unethical practices of the tobacco industry in Slovenia and abroad. The session concluded with Urška Erklavec's presentation on implementing social participation in health to make sure people's insights and lived experiences are considered when making policies with an aim to build trust and improve transparency in decision-making. Sara Cerdas, Member of the European Parliament since 2019, presented inspiring concluding remarks. Cerdas highlighted that despite resistance to legislative measures in the Parliament, science is on our side. With the two recent reports, forming important background documents for JA PreventNCD (European Beating Cancer Plan and the NCD report Healthier Together), large steps have been taken in the right direction. Her main message to the conference participants in moving forward was to increasingly speak to policymakers from other sectors than health, such as finance, agriculture, and environment. Secondly, to build a connection with the population by using data actively and language they understand, as well as to guide the politicians by using plain language. The participation of JA PreventNCD in the FILTERED conference underlined the importance of collaborative efforts on various topics addressing the challenges of reducing NCDs and effectively managing their main risk factors. The conference provided a unique opportunity for diverse stakeholders to network, debate and question critical issues. The insights, perspectives, experiences and strategies shared during the conference will enhance the JA PreventNCD’s ongoing work and the European efforts, driving impactful policy change to protect public health. To learn more about the conference, click here.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/partnerships-collaborations/ja-preventncd-participation-at-filtered-conference-joint-efforts-to-tackle-the-challenges-of-reducing-ncds/
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/
25.11.2025
JA PreventNCD Pre-Conference Highlights: Advancing Effective and Equitable NCD Prevention Across Europe
On 11 November 2025, JA PreventNCD hosted its pre-conference in Helsinki as part of the European Public Health Conference. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, public health practitioners, and youth representatives to examine how Europe can strengthen and align its efforts to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across all levels of governance. The programme reflected one of the core aims of the Joint Action: to support Member States in developing effective, evidence-based, and equitable prevention policies. Setting the Direction for Prevention Knut-Inge Klepp, Scientific Coordinator of JA PreventNCD, opened the session by emphasising the need to address prevention at every level—from individuals to the wider structural determinants of health. He highlighted how JA PreventNCD is working to develop a comprehensive prevention framework, strengthen monitoring capacity, reduce health inequity, and contribute to more coherent and less fragmented public health efforts across Europe. Moderator Hanna Tolonen (current president of EUPHA Public health monitoring and reporting section / JA PreventNCD member) stressed the urgency of prevention given Europe’s demographic changes, pressures on health systems, and local environments that do not always support healthy lifestyles. Primary prevention and intersectoral approaches in the forthcoming European Commission Plan for Cardiovascular Health Marianne Takki from the European Commission (DG SANTE) presented the forthcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan, which will prioritise prevention, screening, and care. The plan integrates cross-cutting themes highly relevant to the Joint Action, such as social inequalities, research, innovation, and digital tools, and will be co-created with Member States. Takki also engaged the room to a conversation about the topic, creating a lively and important dialogue. Her presentation underscored the alignment between the Commission’s priorities and JA PreventNCD’s goal of strengthening evidence-based prevention across Europe. Health promotion and NCD prevention initiatives at European level – support for national action 20 Years of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Hanna Ollila (THL), thematic coordinator for tobacco in JA PreventNCD, highlighted achievements made since the launch of the WHO FCTC, as well as growing challenges such as industry interference and the need for stronger regulation of emerging nicotine products. A new JA PreventNCD policy brief was developed by the team working with health in all policies, focusing on safeguarding policy from commercial influence – an issue central to the Joint Action's work. Transforming Food Systems Ellen Huan-Niemi (Luke) discussed structural drivers of unhealthy diets and emphasised the need to shift from food systems that prioritise cheap calories to those that deliver nutritious, sustainable food. Silke Cnockaert (Sciensano) presented evidence from JA PreventNCD on corporate political activity within the food industry, demonstrating how industry practices can hinder public health progress and the adoption of effective policies. Fiscal Measures and Warning Labels Maria Neufeld (WHO Europe) highlighted the importance of health taxation and alcohol warning labels as equitable prevention tools. She underlined the strong evidence showing that alcohol and sugar taxes reduce consumption and health inequalities, while generating revenue for governments. Health equity in national policy making and the case of public food procurement Health Inequities in National Policies Kadri Tammur and Oscar Garcia presented preliminary findings from policy mapping in 17 countries within JA PreventNCD. Their results show that while many national NCD policies mention inequities, few include monitoring systems or mechanisms to address them in practice. Transformative Potential of Public Food Procurement Betina Bergmann Madsen (City of Copenhagen) demonstrated how long-term investment in public food procurement can drive healthier and more sustainable food environments. Copenhagen’s model—serving over 115,000 meals daily across municipal kitchens—shows how procurement can support political priorities and long-term structural change. NCD prevention at community level Local Commitment and Community-Level Prevention Rosana Peiró Pérez (Fisabio) shared insights from 48 community-level pilots in JA PreventNCD. Securing political commitment was a decisive factor for success, with local leaders increasingly recognising the economic and social benefits of investing in health promotion. Arnfinn Helleve (Norwegian Institute of Public Health) presented the Norwegian Public Health Act, illustrating how legislation, local data, and clear accountability can strengthen public health planning and action. Panel: Current political developments: where are we heading & implications for public health and equity The closing panel brought together voices from Finland’s ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, WHO, UNICEF, the JA PreventNCD youth advisory group and the JA PreventNCD's External Expert Advisory Board. Key messages included: the importance of framing prevention as an economic and societal investment, the value of involving youth as essential partners for long-term change, the need to protect policy from commercial influence, and the importance of long-term, systemic approaches to prevention. The JA PreventNCD pre-conference highlighted the growing momentum for aligned, effective, and equitable NCD prevention in Europe. The discussions reinforced the Joint Action’s mission: to support cross-sectoral collaboration, strengthen the evidence base for prevention, and help Member States implement policies that reduce inequalities and promote healthier environments for all. As JA PreventNCD moves forward, the key messages from Helsinki will contribute to shaping activities, supporting Member States, and strengthening the collective impact of NCD prevention across Europe.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/events/ja-preventncd-pre-conference-highlights-advancing-effective-and-equitable-ncd-prevention-across-europe/