Impact of tobacco control policies implementation on future lung cancer incidence in Europe: An international, population-based modeling study

Confronting the burden of tobacco-related lung cancer in Europe in the next decades

“…Despite the implementation of a wide range of tobacco control policies over the past decades, lung cancer still accounts for 1.8 million deaths worldwide, thus remaining the leading cause of cancer related death [1] . Although smoking prevalence in Europe has drastically decreased over the past decades due to tobacco control policies, the study by Gredner and colleagues demonstrate the potential of achieving even higher levels of tobacco control across Europe [2] . Their results suggest that the immediate implementation of tobacco control policies at the highest level could prevent 19·8% of lung cancer cases in men and 23·2% of lung cancer cases in women in Europe over the next two decades.…”

“…Gredner and colleagues [2] evaluated the potential for implementing comprehensive tobacco control measures across different countries in Europe according to each country's current level of tobacco control as measured by the TCS [2] . Although the items that compose the TCS account for the effectiveness of individual tobacco control policies, the country's overall TCS level does not consider which specific policies are in place.…”

“…While reductions in smoking rates through tobacco control policies remain the best way to prevent lung cancer, the risk for developing lung cancer remains elevated for decades after smoking cessation. [8] This is reflected in the sensitivity analyses performed by Gredner and colleagues [2] , which demonstrate the proportion of lung cancers prevented ranges between 14·2 and 22·2% for men and 16·7 and 25·9% for women, depending on the assumptions for the decline in excess lung cancer risk in former smokers. Consequently, former smokers will account for a large proportion of the burden of lung cancer in the next decades.…”

“…The study by Gredner and colleagues [2] is an important reminder on the effectiveness of tobacco control policies in reducing the burden of lung cancer across Europe. However, various challenges remain in addressing the burden of lung cancer in the next decades.…”

Causality and initiation of alcohol control policy. A response to Allamani

“…Contrary to Allamani, we believe that all taxation that increases price enough to decrease affordability will result in less consumption, if unrecorded consumption is controlled [17], even in Southern European countries. There are clear cultural differences whether a country chooses such a policy, but if such a pricing policy is implemented it will work (for instance, see the effects of tobacco control policies in Southern Europe up to today and the potential effects of future implementation [18]). But this is not a matter of belief.…”