Can the Dutch Government really be abandoning smokers to their fate?

摘要

The Government of the Netherlands has announced that it is all but closing down its tobacco control operations. It has already weakened its existing smoke-free laws. It will reverse a previous decision to ensure that smokers who want to stop but cannot do so by themselves receive evidence-based treatment to help them.1 And it plans to close down the world-renowned national centre on tobacco control, STIVORO. This at a time when smoking prevalence in the Netherlands is relatively high among western countries at 27%, resulting in an estimated almost 20 000 premature deaths per year.