The Campaign

More expensive cigarettes to save lives: signature collection starts to increase packet prices by 5 euro

A popular initiative bill to discourage smoking and finance the National Health Service has been put forward. Italy among the EU countries with the lowest excise taxes, while Brussels aims for a tobacco-free generation by 2040.

by Francesca Cerati

6 November 2025

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

A very high social cost
20 years of anti-smoking policies in Europe: is the future tobacco-free?
Airc: 60 years of research and prevention
An appeal to politics and citizens

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

An extra five euros per packet of cigarettes. This is the shock proposal launched today in the Senate by Aiom (Italian Association of Medical Oncology) together with the Airc Foundation for Cancer Research, the Umberto Veronesi Foundation and the Aiom Foundation, to discourage smoking and find new resources for the National Health Service.

The initiative takes the form of a citizens' initiative bill and aims to introduce a fixed excise duty of EUR 5 on all smoking and nicotine inhalation products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The goal: to collect 50,000 authenticated signatures by spring 2026, to be delivered to Parliament.

This is not, however, an entirely new idea: back in the autumn of 2024, Aiom, as part of the #SOStenereSsn campaign, had already put forward the same proposal for a €5 increase per pack as a 'purpose tax' to support the national healthcare system. At that time it was an appeal addressed to the government and healthcare institutions; today, with the start of the signature collection, the measure has been transformed into a real popular 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 provided for by the Constitution," stress 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 cancer risk factors: we need effective tools to encourage cessation'.

Promoters point out that an increase of EUR 5 per pack could reduce tobacco consumption by 37%. France and Ireland, which have already introduced similar price increases, have seen a drastic drop in smokers. "In our country," explains Maria Sofia Cattaruzza, professor of Public Health at the Sapienza University of Rome, "excise duties are among the lowest in Europe: 3.19 euro per pack against 7.45 in France and 9.92 in Ireland".

A very high social cost

In Italy alone, smoking-related diseases generate EUR 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, oesophagus, pancreas, colon, bladder and kidney, as well as chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

"Making smoking a costly and unsustainable practice, especially for young people, is the only way to reverse the trend," reiterate the promoters, "and the additional funds can be reinvested in public health.

The collection of signatures will start in the coming days, with the involvement of hundreds of volunteers, doctors and cancer researchers. The hope is that the proposal will be accepted 'perhaps unanimously, as has already happened for the right to be forgotten in oncology'.

Twenty years of smoke-free policies in Europe: is the future tobacco-free?

The launch of the Italian proposal coincides with the new WHO/Europe report, marking 20 years 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 EU adults used tobacco, with the rate higher among men (29.1 %) but also increasing among women (23.9 %). Of particular concern is the increase in e-cigarette use among adolescents: one in four 15-16 year olds use them regularly.

"The future of Europe depends on stronger policies: higher taxation, a ban on flavourings, anonymous packaging and a stop to advertising," said Kristina Mauer-Stender, WHO/Europe regional advisor. The EU goal is clear: a tobacco-free generation by 2040, with less than 5% of the population smoking.

Airc: 60 years of research and prevention

Among the promoters of the bill is the Airc Foundation, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary in these very weeks with the initiative 'I Giorni della Ricerca', from 27 October to 16 November. The campaign involves citizens, institutions, schools, media and sports teams to support 5,400 researchers in 96 Italian institutions. On Saturday 8 November, thousands of volunteers will bring 'I Cioccolatini della Ricerca', the symbol of the fight against cancer, to the squares.

"Today about 50% of those who get cancer can be cured," Airc recalls, "but prevention remains the first cure. Combating smoking means reducing thousands of new cases every year'.

An appeal to politics and citizens

The excise tax increase, according to oncologists, is not a punitive measure but an act of collective responsibility. 'Political courage is needed,' Perrone said, 'for a law that protects public health and reduces the burden of disease. It is an investment in the future'.

Italy, twenty years after the European turning point, is therefore called upon to choose whether to stay behind or join the vision of a tobacco-free continent.