More expensive cigarettes to save lives: a petition is underway to raise the price of packs by €5.
Five euros more for every pack of cigarettes. This is the shocking proposal launched today in the Senate by AIOM (Italian Association of Medical Oncology), along with the AIRC Foundation for Cancer Research, the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, and the AIOM Foundation, to discourage smoking and raise new resources for the National Health Service.
The initiative is taking shape with a popular legislative proposal, aiming to introduce a flat €5 excise tax on all smoking and inhalation nicotine products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The goal is to collect 50,000 certified signatures by spring 2026, to be submitted to Parliament.
However, this is not a completely new idea: as early as the fall of 2024, the Italian National Association of Oncologists (AIOM), as part of the #SOStenereSsn campaign, had advanced the same proposal for a €5 increase per package as a "target tax" to support the national healthcare system. At the time, it was an appeal to the government and healthcare institutions; today, with the launch of the signature collection, the measure has become a true citizens' initiative bill, marking a qualitative leap in the political and social action of Italian oncologists.
"We are calling for a law in the manner and within the terms established by the Constitution," emphasize Francesco Perrone, president of AIOM, Daniele Finocchiaro of the AIRC Foundation, Giulia Veronesi of the Veronesi Foundation, and Saverio Cinieri, president of the AIOM Foundation. "Despite more restrictive regulations, too many citizens still smoke. Smoking remains one of the main risk factors for cancer: effective tools are needed to encourage cessation."
The promoters point out that a €5 increase per pack could reduce tobacco consumption by 37%. France and Ireland, which have already introduced similar price increases, have seen a drastic drop in smoking. "In our country," explains Maria Sofia Cattaruzza, professor of public health at Sapienza University in Rome, "excise taxes are among the lowest in Europe: €3.19 per pack compared to €7.45 in France and €9.92 in Ireland."
In Italy alone, smoking-related diseases generate €24 billion in direct and indirect costs and 93,000 deaths each year. Smoking causes not only lung cancer, but also cancers of the oral cavity, esophagus, pancreas, colon, bladder, and kidney, as well as chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
"Making smoking an expensive and unsustainable practice, especially for young people, is the only way to reverse the trend," the promoters reiterate. "And the additional funds can be reinvested in public health."
The signature drive will begin in the coming days, involving hundreds of volunteers, doctors, and oncology researchers. The hope is that the proposal will be approved "perhaps unanimously, as was already the case with the right to be forgotten in cancer."
The launch of the Italian proposal coincides with the new WHO/Europe report, marking the twentieth anniversary of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Despite legislative progress, tobacco continues to kill over half a million people each year on the continent and remains the leading cause of preventable death.
In 2022, 26.5% of adults in the EU used tobacco, with the highest rate among men (29.1%) but also rising among women (23.9%). Of particular concern is the increase in e-cigarette use among adolescents: one in four 15- to 16-year-olds uses them regularly.
"Europe's future depends on more effective policies: higher taxes, a ban on flavorings, anonymous packaging, and a ban on advertising," said Kristina Mauer-Stender, WHO/Europe regional advisor. The EU's goal is clear: a tobacco-free generation by 2040, with less than 5% of the population smoking.
Among the bill's sponsors is the AIRC Foundation, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this week with the "Research Days" initiative, from October 27th to November 16th. The campaign involves citizens, institutions, schools, the media, and sports teams to support 5,400 researchers at 96 Italian institutions. On Saturday, November 8th, thousands of volunteers will bring "Research Chocolates," a symbol of the fight against cancer, to the streets.
"Today, approximately 50% of those diagnosed with cancer can be cured," AIRC reminds us, "but prevention remains the primary cure. Combating smoking means reducing thousands of new cases each year."
According to oncologists, the excise tax increase is not a punitive measure but an act of collective responsibility. "Political courage is needed," said Perrone, "for a law that protects public health and reduces the burden of disease. It's an investment in the future."
Twenty years after the European turning point, Italy is therefore called upon to choose whether to remain behind or join the vision of a tobacco-free continent.
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