“Smoking remains the first preventable cause of death in our country, and this is a fact that we can no longer consider as unavoidable. We need a comprehensive strategy that combines education, prevention and real support for those who want to quit smoking, and therefore health policy must have the courage to look beyond the emergency, to build strong alliances between institutions, the scientific community and civil society. Prevention must not be a battleground, but a major civil fight that can only be won if we all move in the same direction. In this case, Veronesi The Foundation represents an invaluable ally for many years because it disseminates scientific knowledge, reliable data, and promotes healthy lifestyles, so its contribution goes beyond research as it helps turn prevention from just a slogan into a real reality by truly putting society at the center.” So to Adnkronos Salute to Forza Italia senator and Senate vice president Licia Ronzulli, who spoke today in the Senate at the meeting ‘Preventing tumors, protecting health: strategies and policies on smoking’.
A discussion between representatives of the world of politics, research and public health was promoted on Ronzulli’s own initiative and organized in collaboration with the Umberto Veronesi Ets Foundation. Objective: to discuss new measures to combat smoking, focusing on the effectiveness of tax levers as a deterrent tool, namely significantly increasing customs duties on tobacco products, increasing the price of a pack of cigarettes to more than 10 euros, and proportionally increasing taxes on all products containing tobacco and nicotine.
“Even the tax lever, if used intelligently, can become a public health tool – emphasizes Ronzulli – and an increase in cigarette prices only makes sense if it is accompanied by information campaigns, support programs and above all with a clear commitment, namely, every euro collected must be returned to society in prevention, research and health to guarantee that new generations have a healthier future”.
