An EU wide ban on menthol cigarettes sales goes into effect on May 20 following the Directive 2014/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products and repealing Directive 2001/37/EC. The characterizing flavours regulation on tobacco products is one of the key changes for tobacco products sold in 27 EU Member States and the UK since the introduction of Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in 2016 as stated in the European […]

Smoking is a risk factor for many diseases and kills more than 8 million people globally every year. It is well established that any kind of smoking is harmful and seriously affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. COVID-19 can harm cardiovascular and respiratory systems while the damage caused to the lungs by smoking makes patients more susceptible to pulmonary infections, both bacterial and viral. A systematic review of the most recent epidemiological data from the studies already published in China, concluded that smokers suffer more severely from COVID-19, being 2.4 times more likely to be admitted to an ICU, need […]