ECPC Press Release - 11 October 2007

Brussels, 11.10.2007

ECPC attended an event organised and chaired by Liz Lynne MEP on the subject of snus, a moist oral smoke-free tobacco product which is often taken as a replacement for cigarette smoking in Sweden, the only EU Member State where snus is allowed. The meeting confirmed ECPC’s position that there is not enough scientific evidence to reconsider lifting the ban on snus.

A retrospective cohort study on the oral use of snus and risk of cancer, undertaken by the Karolinska Institute researchers in Sweden points out that there is a double risk of pancreatic cancer in snus takers compared to non-smoking people.

From the cancer patients’ perspective there is no question on which side to come down; since snus is implicated in pancreatic cancer it should stay banned.

The argument developed by some experts seems to be that snus could be a nicotine substitute for people who have difficulty giving up smoking. For cancer patients it seems a bizarre argument to substitute one nicotine addiction with another based on non-conclusive evidence from Sweden.

We have an EU ban which must be left in place until there is a more convincing case to be made and one which would not play into the hands of the tobacco lobby.  ECPC would urge policy makers and public health experts alike to follow the precautionary principle and leave the snus ban firmly in place. We look forward to the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), an independent committee which provides the Commission with scientific advice, expected in 2008.

Let’s invest our energy in smoking cessation policies instead and let’s make them work!

For further information please contact:

ECPC
Tel. +49 (0)89 62836807
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Notes to the Editor

The European Cancer Patient Coalition was founded in 2003 under the slogan “Nothing about Us, Without Us. It is committed to improving cancer prevention, screening, early diagnosis and best treatment, reducing disparity and inequality across the EU. ECPC seeks to ensure that policy makers, politicians, health professionals, the media and the general public recognise the serious nature of cancer and the need for concerted action to reduce unnecessary death and suffering. Further information can be found at www.ecpc-online.org.

Cancer in Europe: Key facts and figures

• There are more than 2 million new cases and more than 1.1 million cancer deaths in Europe each year
• Every day 5214 Europeans are diagnosed with cancer and 3185 die from their disease
• Lung cancer is the commonest form of cancer, followed closely by colorectal cancer
• Lung, colorectal and breast cancer account for two-fifths of the entire European cancer population
• Most of the other cancer are considered rare diseases according to the EU criteria affecting not more than 5/10,000 people in the EU
• The number of Europeans with cancer will increase dramatically over the next 20 years mainly due to the ageing population