“It is not enough to work on the price, then neglect other elements”

The increase in excise duties on tobacco announced for 2025 cannot satisfy the Cancer Foundation, which is focusing on prevention, reducing accessibility and regulating advertising.

Faithfully attached to the tobacco industry, the first in its history before the steel industry, Luxembourg continues to be the supermarket for border smokers. At the beginning of November, the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph recounted the growing success of the “Pafbus” which, twice a month, takes individuals to the Luxembourg border to buy tobacco, driven by the increase in excise duties and a packet for 11 euros. Proof that increasing the price is not a miracle solution to smoking, with addiction and the motivation of consumers to smoke cheaper taking over. However, it is this lever that the government wishes to activate.

On October 9, Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance, announced a 5.5% increase in excise duties on cigarettes and smoking tobacco from 2025. “In the interest of public health, the authorities’ objective is to play on an increase in prices the most accessible packages in order to discourage young people in particular from purchasing while generating revenue», Explains the Finance Committee. For Lex Schaul, public health professional for the Cancer Foundation, this increase “is a step in the right direction, but it still remains insufficient to have a real reduction in consumption”.

10% per year, wishful thinking?

From 5.20 to 5.50 euros per packet next January, the increase should increase state revenue (read opposite) but has not disrupted the plans of the Cancer Foundation, which is calling for an annual increase of at least 10% from 2024. The guilt of selling so cheaply is still present, for Luxembourgers but not only. “We have a responsibility towards neighboring countries, because this always favors cross-border purchasing.” In any case, “it is not enough to work on the price and then neglect other elements,” Lex Schaul clarifies.

The Cancer Foundation advocates a global approach which is reflected in its “Tobacco-free Generation” strategy launched in March 2023. Its goal: to enable a first generation to live in a smoke-free environment by 2040. To achieve this, prevention is the key since “our greatest importance is young people”, insists Margot Heirendt, director of the Cancer Foundation. Especially since the consumption of young Luxembourgers is increasing dangerously (read opposite).

Consequently, the accessibility of tobacco in all its forms (e-cigarettes, puff, snus or chicha), must be urgently regulated according to health professionals, just like indirect advertising, “whether on social networks or in the series. While knowing that “passive smoking is as harmful as active smoking”, the public utility establishment is also working on its “Tobacco-free communities” project.

“We lack resources”

However, smokers are not blamed since the strategy also includes the desire to provide the best possible support for those who wish to quit. On this point, the Cancer Foundation, which offers free monitoring, deplores the country’s lack of investment. Concerning the national cessation program, “often neither patients nor doctors are aware of this program” and in general, “we lack resources, services and professionals”. Lex Schaul points out in particular the lack of training in tobacco science in Luxembourg.

At the same time, tobacco represents 1.9 billion revenues in 2024 for an unknown cost in terms of medical care. “We are still trying to know but as there is a lot of revenue, we prefer to focus on that than on public health expenditure,” laments the director whose Foundation received 337,355 euros in subsidies from the Ministry of Health in 2023.

In the land of the package for less than 6 euros, “Tobacco-free generation” by 2040 is “a project that is close to our hearts and we believe in it”. “We are on the right track because there is still a government that listens to us,” puts Margot Heirendt into perspective, referring to bill no. 8333, currently in committee, for which the Cancer Foundation has submitted its opinion.

Initially motivated by the withdrawal of certain exemptions for heated tobacco products, the bill was enhanced by regulations on nicotine pouches. The Cancer Foundation therefore took the opportunity to demand a total ban on the sale of disposable sachets and cigarettes. If implemented, the fight promises to continue, because “we are aware that if we ban one product, the tobacco industry will release others.”