Ayaka Teshima, a pre-doctoral researcher at the Unit on Tobacco Control (UCT), presented her research at the 10th European Conference on Tobacco Control (ENSP-ECTC 2025) , held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 22 to 24 October 2025.
His presentation focused on tobacco use among young people in the European Union and how tobacco prices and minimum age policies influence young people’s behavior . The results provide relevant evidence for current EU debates on effective tax measures to prevent the initiation of tobacco use.
The conference placed a strong emphasis on the economics of tobacco control . Experts, including economists, researchers and public health advocates, supported the Belgrade Declaration on Tobacco Taxation and Competitiveness , which proposes:
- Increase and better align taxes on tobacco and nicotine.
- Apply automatic tax indexation.
- Reinvest tax revenues in prevention and cessation programs.
This discussion is directly related to the European Commission’s review of the Tobacco Taxation Directive , with the aim of strengthening tobacco taxation across the EU to protect health, reduce health inequalities and limit industry influence on public policies.
Tobacco taxation has proven to be an effective and cost-effective measure. Increasing the retail price, through appropriate taxes, remains a key tool to reduce tobacco use among young people.