More than 80 per cent of Britons believe that children should not be exposed to tobacco marketing

Cancer Research UK, the world’s leading charity dedicated to research on cancer, an EPHA member, published on 14 May 2012 a study on tobacco marketing targeting children. This study comes at a crucial time with the ongoing revision of the Tobacco Products Directive of which one of the main issue at stake is the introduction of plain packaging.

According to the study, "79% of the 4099 people interviewed believe that tobacco marketing is harmful to children and 84% that, therefore they should not be exposed to it". In 2010, a Eurobarometer survey on tobacco emphasised that the majority of the EU population, 54%, was in favour of plain packaging and 75% in favour of health warnings to appear on the packs.

The result of theCancer Research UK study goes in the direction of numerous others, pointing out a population support of increased efforts in the fight against tobacco. The ongoing revision of the Tobacco Products Directive represents a perfect opportunity for policy makers to show commitment on a public health threat killing one person every six seconds.

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