Tobacco - National Plan 2016-2020

The National Plan to Combat Smoking 2016-2020 (PNLT) is the result of an approach launched several years ago in Luxembourg to tackle the major public health issue of tobacco use.

Smoking is a factor in the development of severe, debilitating pathologies such as cancer and heart disease, neurovascular diseases such as stroke, respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), etc. It has a high cost in terms of quality of life for individuals, years of productive life lost, early mortality, and intensive and expensive treatments.

The plan is the result of extensive consultation with stakeholders and is based on knowledge acquired in terms of legislation, but also in terms of prevention and support actions.

The political desire to combat smoking, expressed in both the Government Programme and the National Cancer Plan, is translated through the PNLT into an opportunity to implement, in a concerted manner and in all public policies, actions that will help to reduce the impacts of smoking in terms of mortality and morbidity.

The PNLT 2016-2020 consists of 5 priority areas, 14 measures and 53 actions:

• priority 1: governance of the fight against smoking
• priority 2: promotion of health and prevention of smoking
• priority 3: help to quit smoking for good
• priority 4: training of professionals
• priority 5: research and evaluation

To achieve the objectives set and the expected results, a considerable effort is needed to lay down in law new measures resulting from transposition of the European Directive, as well as from the approaches used in several other European countries.

Protecting young people from smoking is a central concern of the PNLT 2016-2020.