In a forum of the site Lorientlejour.com“, An addictologist and tobacco specialist from the University of Grenoble Alpes dwelled on the situation in these countries which have succeeded in preventing the population from smoking. A handful of countries like Ireland and Australia, or a nation like Scotland (Great Britain), have succeeded in dissuading their inhabitants from smoking. How did they do it?
SOME COUNTRIES HAVE FUZZED TO PREVENT THE SMOKING POPULATION
A handful of countries like Ireland and Australia, or a nation like Scotland (Great Britain), have succeeded in dissuading their inhabitants from smoking. How did they do it? By deploying a whole panoply of radical measures, which now serve as an example to follow in the fight against nicotine addiction.
France has also taken over one of these measures, the neutral cigarette packet, in force since January 1. But France is now in the middle of the ford. If it does not act simultaneously on the other levers, in particular by imposing a succession of very strong price increases, the results are very likely… not to be there.
One in two smokers will die from their smoking, recalls the World Health Organization (WHO). The economic cost of tobacco-related illnesses around the world is estimated at $ 422 billion (approximately € 400 billion), according to a study published Jan. 4 in the journal Tobacco Control. It is therefore understandable that the WHO urged governments, in 2003, to discuss all together the means to be used in the fight against this scourge. To date, 180 countries have ratified the United Nations treaty on the issue, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The strategy adopted by this convention is based on the prohibition of tobacco advertising, increasing the price through taxes, protecting non-smokers against secondhand smoke, education and information on the dangers smoking and helping to quit smoking.
FIGHTING THE STRATEGIES OF THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY
In 2016, the 7th Conference of the Parties to the convention (i.e. countries that have ratified it), COP7, also called for combating “tobacco industry strategies that undermine or distort tobacco control ”.
Among the signatories, some have distinguished themselves by accomplishing the feat of making cigarettes out of date among young people and discouraging the vast majority of adults from smoking. Ireland, to begin with. The Dublin government introduced a ban on smoking in public and collective places in 2004. Its anti-smoking law is considered one of the strictest in existence, as the ban concerns bars, pubs, restaurants, clubs, but also workplaces, public buildings, company vehicles, trucks, taxis and vans. In addition, it extends to a perimeter located within a radius of 3 meters from these places. In pubs, the improvement of the air quality and that of the respiratory function of the customers and the bartenders is attested by several studies, like that carried out one year after the ban, the report of the Irish Office of Control tobacco or that of the Irish Department of Health.
Enforcement of the anti-smoking law has rapidly lowered the smoking prevalence rate in that country from 29% in 2004 to 18,6% in 2016, according to the Irish Department of Health. By comparison, this rate decreased only slightly in France, going from 30% in 2004 to 28% in 2016 - it has also been stable since 2014, according to the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT). The next target is “Ireland without tobacco” by 2025, ie less than 5% of smokers in the population.
Scotland followed Ireland closely, voting two years after banning smoking in public and collective places. Its application reduced the smoking prevalence rate of Scots from 26,5% in 2004 to 21% in 2016. In 2016, Scotland went further by banning adults from smoking in their cars around underage children. . This should save 60 children per year the risks associated with passive smoking, said MP Jim Hume, at the initiative of the law.
Australia is another tobacco control champion. The main strength of this country? The adoption of the plain packet of cigarettes in 2012. The prevalence rate of smoking, which was already moderate, fell further from 16,1% in 2011-2012 to 14,7% in 2014-2015. This country now intends to combine the neutral package with an annual tax increase of 12,5% each year for 4 years. The packet of cigarettes, currently at 16,8 euros, will then drop to ... 27 euros in 2020. The goal is to drop below 10% of smokers by 2018.
By their aggressive anti-smoking policies, these countries are provoking reactions from tobacco manufacturers. The industrialists, designated under the name of Big Tobacco for the 5 biggest (Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International, China Tobacco), are indeed bringing lawsuits against countries adopting, for example, the neutral package. They attack for infringement of intellectual property and freedom of trade as well as for the risk of counterfeiting, on the grounds that these packages are easier to copy. Thus, Japan Tobacco International lodged a complaint in Ireland against the neutral package in 2015. The decision has not yet been rendered.
PHILIP MORRIS DISMISSES COMPLAINT AGAINST NEUTRAL PACKAGE
At the European level, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rejected, on May 4, 2016, the appeal by Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco against the new European law generalizing the neutral package. In Australia, Philip Morris was dismissed in a similar complaint in December 2015 by the Investment Arbitration Tribunal over intellectual property rights. He was ordered to withdraw the logo and to renounce the graphic charter of his brands.
In France, where are we? France first played, in the early 2000s, on the increase in prices, which caused a decrease of about a third of tobacco sales. As Professor Gérard Dubois specifies in the Revue des maladies respiratoires, the sharp increase in the price of tobacco in 2003 (8,3% in January, 18% in October) then in 2004 (8,5% in January) during the same period a decrease in the prevalence of smoking by 12%, the number of smokers falling from 15,3 million to 13,5 million.
Subsequently, the increases, much more moderate, had very little effect, as shown by the study published in 2013 by the epidemiologist of the Gustave Roussy Institute, Catherine Hill. On this point, the report of the Court of Auditors of February 2016 is clear: “Stronger and more continuous price increases are to be imposed. "The Court of Auditors therefore recommends" to implement over time a policy of sustained price increases by using the fiscal tool at a level sufficient to cause an effective and lasting drop in consumption ". Exactly what was decided in Australia.
In France, we are still far from the mark. On February 20, the price of roll-your-own tobacco increased by 15% on average, or between 1 euro and 1,50 euro per packet. Cigarette packs continue to sell for between 6,50 and 7 euros, manufacturers having waived price increases despite tax increases. On March 10, the decision to increase only the price of the cheapest cigarettes was taken, with an increase of 10 to 20 euro cents per pack.
The neutral package alone is unlikely to reduce the proportion of smokers. Indeed, it is the combination of several measures that brings about the effectiveness. If France wants to hope to serve as an example, one day, to other countries for its tobacco control, it will have to draw inspiration from countries like Australia or Ireland and take much more radical measures.
