Milan conference calls for nicotine‑free cities as US expert backs safer alternatives

The European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH) opened in Milan, organised by LILT, with a mandate to create “Nicotine‑Free Spaces for Healthier Cities.” The summit will produce a Milan Declaration urging municipalities across Europe to eliminate smoking and aerosol‑producing products from public areas such as schools, parks and transport. Participants highlighted that Europe still has 179 million smokers and 700 000 tobacco‑related deaths each year.

At the same time, Brad Rodu, emeritus professor at the University of Louisiana and specialist in smoke‑free policies, told Adnkronos that public health strategies should include low‑risk nicotine products—e‑cigarettes, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches and snus—as safer alternatives for smokers who cannot quit. He criticized the WHO’s uniform stance on all nicotine products and argued that differentiating risk levels could reduce smoking prevalence and save lives.

Both the Milan initiative and Rodu’s comments reflect a growing push in Europe and the United States to shift tobacco control toward harm‑reduction measures and to protect especially young people from nicotine exposure.