Young people, non-smokers and those wanting to quit can get help to lead a life without tobacco, according to a new, € 72
million EU anti-smoking campaign launched today. EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou kicked off
the campaign at the Rond-Point Schuman outside the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels by unveiling the
campaign slogan "HELP: For a Life Without Tobacco" on a giant inflatable structure which will tour all 25 EU capitals. The
new campaign has been devised for the European Commission by a consortium of health experts and PR professionals (see MEMO/05/68 for details). The roadshow will be followed by a "HELP" TV and cinema advertising campaign
over the summer. Commissioner Kyprianou said: "The sickness and death caused by smoking costs EU countries € 100 billion a
year. Prevention and information campaigns like "HELP" are an investment in a healthier and more prosperous future for our
citizens. As well as promoting tobacco-free lifestyles to young people, the campaign will also highlight the dangers of
passive smoking and support the trend towards tobacco-free public places." The European Commission has earmarked € 72 million
for the new campaign between now and 2008. Adolescents (15 to 18 year olds) and young adults (18 to 30 years olds) will be
the main target groups.
Markos Kyprianou, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said: "Eight out of ten smokers start in
their teenage years. Once hooked, it is a habit that takes many of them to an early grave. Every year, 650,000 EU citizens
die from tobacco related disease. I am determined to do everything I can to stop young people taking up smoking, and to help
young smokers kick the habit before it ruins their health. I want to see a major shift in our society, where being smoke-free
becomes the norm and the smoke-addicted are a dwindling minority. If all EU countries followed the lead of Ireland, Italy and
Malta and banned smoking in public places it would go a long way to achieving this."
"HELP" is the second major EU-wide anti-smoking campaign run by the Commission. It will build on the experience of the first
such campaign, "Feel Free to Say No", which ran between 2002 and 2004 and achieved over a billion contacts with young people
throughout the EU
(see IP/04/1284). The "HELP" campaign consists of a roadshow and public relations campaign, an advertising
campaign and a web site with help on how to quit. A European Tobacco Media Observatory will systematically collect and
analyse European anti-tobacco communications in the media.
The "HELP" campaign has been devised by a consortium of health experts and media companies. The media companies delivering
the campaign are working in partnership with the NGOs and public health bodies brought together by the European Network for
Smoking Prevention (ENSP). They have developed their strategy with input from an expert advisory board chaired by Professor
Gerard Hastings of Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling. The consortium won the contract to
deliver the new EU campaign following an open call for tender that was run by the Commission in 2004.
Further information
Europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_determinants,
Europa.eu.int/comm/mediatheque/photo/index_en.htmland
help-eu
See also MEMO/05/69 for more information on the EU's action on tobacco control.
EU launches new anti-smoking campaign
27
10
2015