The latest report from the European Cancer Organization (ECO) has just been published. It is not really reassuring for several million French people.
Danger for French smokers. This Tuesday, May 13, 2024, the European Cancer Organization (ECO) published its latest report on cancer figures in Europe. It is clear that the results are not good for France, particularly with regard to the ravages of tobacco. France has some 25.3% of daily cigarette smokers. In the rest of Europe, this figure drops to 18.8%. In other words, France is the second country where people smoke the most in Europe.
Excessive smoking kills more in France
One piece of data concerning France receives particular attention in the ECO report. In France, excessive smoking kills more than 48,000 people per year. That is up to 60% more than in other European countries. To explain this worrying phenomenon, it is important to remember that a third of the French population lives in a medical desert, particularly in rural areas.
Tobacco-free generation, 2040 objective
To try to stem this phenomenon, recommendations were made by the ECO, grouped together in its “European manifesto against cancer” published on November 15, 2023, for the European Cancer Summit. It includes clear objectives such as increasing the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 years in order to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040. But also, taxing new tobacco-based products and nicotine, like cigarettes and increase tax rates on cigarettes and tobacco.
At the same time, France does better than its neighbors when it comes to early detection of lung cancer, which may be linked to tobacco consumption. The five-year survival rate reaches 17% in France, while it peaks at 15% on average in the rest of the Old Continent.