In the constant battle against Big Tobacco

Malignant tumours in the throat, larynx or oral cavity, lung cancer, ischaemic heart disease, strokes: these are just some of the damage caused to the body by smoking, vaping and the like. Around eight million people worldwide pay for their consumer behaviour with their lives every year. A high price for the "little vice", which should actually be too high for everyone. However, current figures show that people in Luxembourg continue to smoke heavily, so that addiction and secondary diseases have free rein – and the tobacco industry is happy.

The latest statistics from the Fondation Cancer in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Security prove that tobacco and nicotine will continue to be a problem in 2023/24. In an online survey, 27 per cent of 3,397 people aged 16 and over said they smoked. Although this figure has not changed significantly since 2019, this also means that progress in terms of smoking prevention is currently stagnating. One particular cause for concern in this regard is that the number of smokers in the 16 to 24 age group has increased slightly again, meaning that preventive protective measures urgently need to focus even more on young people.