An injection of 13.8 billion euros to support the National Health Service, which is increasingly in crisis. Precious resources that could be obtained with a specific tax on cigarettes, increasing the cost of packs by 5 euros. A measure that would save the public health system and that, first of all, would avoid thousands of cases of lung cancer and other neoplasms every year.
In a press conference at the Senate, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) launches the 'SOStenereSSN' campaign - promoted by Aiom, Fondazione Aiom and Panorama della Sanità - and declares open war on smoking, receiving the support of the vice president of the Senate, Domenica Castellone, who announces amendments to the budget that will go in this direction.
Smoking, explains Aiom President Francesco Perrone, «is the cause of 90% of lung cancer cases, equal to 40 thousand new diagnoses in 2023. We ask the institutions to approve a specific tax on cigarettes. The goal is to reduce tobacco consumption and have additional resources, up to 13.8 billion, to be allocated to financing the NHS. Smoking is also a risk factor for other neoplasms, for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases».
According to Aiom estimates, in Italy over 93,000 deaths are attributable to this bad habit every year, with costs of over 26 billion euros. 24.5% of adults (18-69 years old) smoke and the habit is increasingly widespread especially among women, which corresponds to a progressive increase in mortality from lung cancer.
We must also dispel some false beliefs, such as the one that prices are already very high: if in Italy in 2021 a pack costs around 6 euros, in England it costs 12 euros, in France 9, in Romania 8, in Holland 6.90, in Poland and Germany 6.46. Only in Spain is the cost lower and equal to 5.54 euros. In 2024, however, a pack of one of the major cigarette brands in Italy costs 6.20 euros against 12.50 in France. The USA has also established high costs, around 8 dollars.
Another false myth is that Italians would rebel against a specific tax on 'blondes': according to a 2024 survey by the Mario Negri Institute, in fact, 62% of compatriots say they are in favor of such a measure, directing the revenues to the NHS.
The proposal has received the full support of Castellone, who announced amendments to this effect in the budget but also in the decree against violence against health workers that has just reached the Senate. But there is another possible way to achieve this measure: "I also proposed using the possibility that exists today, thanks to a change in the Senate regulation, which provides that if there are proposals for popular initiatives that collect 50,000 signatures, these are discussed in the Senate Chamber within three months of the date on which they are deposited. We can involve citizens on this issue." Support also comes from the Democratic Party, from Beatrice Lorenzin and Marina Sereni, who hopes for a bipartisan 'push' for this measure. Lorenzin recalls, however, that as Minister of Health, in 2014, she had already presented a similar proposal but without success, registering "the resistance of the Revenue Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture". But this, he concluded, "is not actually a tax, but rather a health policy tool in favor of the NHS. After 10 years, perhaps it has been understood that this is the right path".
(Online Union)
