EU Policy in Need of a Heart
28th Oct 2025
EU health ministers have reached an historic agreement to tackle cardiovascular disease, the number one killer in Europe claimining more than1.7 million lives every year. Backed by the European Commission, the new plan includes a dedicated EU action plan for cardiovascular health, part of the wider Healthier Together initiative to fight non-communicable diseases.
The goal is clear: prevent heart disease, improve early detection, and cut the massive social and economic costs linked to poor heart health. It’s a strong political signal — though some argue the plan still doesn’t go far enough. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) includes conditions like heart attack and stroke, and smoking is a major cause. The harm comes mainly from the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke—such as tar and carbon monoxide, rather than nicotine—that damage blood vessels and promote clotting.
Sweden stands out as the world’s first smoke-free country, achieving this milestone through a pragmatic approach that focuses on a harm-reduction approach that allows people access to products that are less harmful than combustible cigarettes. By embracing smoke-free alternatives such as snus and nicotine pouches, Sweden has drastically lowered smoking rates and now records the lowest levels of smoking-related disease and death in the EU—and among the lowest in the developed world. “By contrast, the EU’s cardiovascular health strategy continues to conflate the risks of nicotine with those of traditional tobacco smoking—a confusion that could cost hundreds of thousands of lives every year,” says Dr. Marina Murphy of Haypp Group.
If the EU is serious about saving lives, we must dare to invest in smart regulation and give adults access to safer nicotine alternatives. Sweden has demonstrated that combining high cigarette taxes with access to nicotine alternatives can be an effective way to reduce smoking. To continue banning or opposing these alternatives is not only unscientific—it is irresponsible from a public health perspective.
– It is time for EU policymakers to face facts and back evidence-based, smarter regulation. Only then can we truly combat smoking-related cardiovascular disease and save lives across Europe, concludes Dr. Murphy.
