The Conference for a Smoke-free Europe was held in Helsinki from 2-4 October 1996 with more than 500 scientists, administrators, politicians and public health professionals and activists from 50 countries, and to which Mr Padraig Flynn, Commissioner of the European Commission, Ms Terttu Huttu-Juntunen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, Mr William B. Schultz, Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Mr Prabhat Jha, of the World Bank attended.
The Conference was informed that the Belgian Parliament will vote on a total ban on tobacco advertising in the near future.
A ban on advertising is one of the important measures to reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people. The ban on advertising has been implemented with good results in a range of countries, including the host country to the Conference.
The Conference urges the Belgian Government and Parliament to adopt a total ban on tobacco advertising and sales promotion that would not only improve the health of Belgians but also encourage similar action with similar results in other European countries.