These 4 industrial sectors are responsible for 2.7 million deaths per year in Europe

These “four industries kill at least 7,000 people every day“across the region, which includes 53 countries and extends to Central Asia,” said regional director Hans Kluge, quoted in a press release.

“Industry tactics include exploiting vulnerable people through targeted marketing strategies, deceiving consumers, and making false claims about the benefits of their products or their environmental friendliness.“, he said.

These tactics undermine the fight against non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases which are the cause of four out of ten deaths in Europe.

For the WHO, by promoting their products, the giants of tobacco, food, fossil fuels and alcohol interfere in efforts to prevent and control diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

The practices of large groups fuel inequalities and recurrences of cancer, chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and diabetes.

They “constitute a major obstacle to prevention policies“, lamented the WHO. They “maximize profits and compromise public health“.

Overweight and obesity affect nearly 60% of adults and nearly one in three children on the Old Continent.

The most recent data (2017) also show that one in five deaths from cardiovascular diseases and cancers in Europe is attributable to an unhealthy diet.

To protect populations, the WHO recommends the application of stricter regulations concerning in particular the marketing of products harmful to health, monopolistic practices, taxation of multinationals and the exploitation of vulnerable populations in times of crisis.

“Human beings must come before profit, always“insisted Mr. Kluge.

Worldwide, tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels and alcohol, promoted by industrial lobbies, are responsible for 19 million deaths per year.