Over the years, EPHA has lobbied for minimum pricing, taxes on food and the Tobacco Products Directive, so I was delighted to hear that the European Commission is going to stop funding it next year.
In late October 2017, EPHA was informed that it had not been selected to receive an operating grant from the European Commission’s Health Programme, as from January 2018.
Such an occurrence has always been a possibility and the EPHA Board has undertaken contingency planning for several years. While this has some immediate implications for the organisation, the board and secretariat team are implementing plans to ensure EPHA’s long-term sustainability.
EU funding accounts for two-thirds of their income so hopefully their long-term sustainability is out of the question, unless Pharma steps in.
And the good news doesn't end there. The European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) has been unsuccessful in applying for EU cash and the neo-prohibitionists at Eurocare have been defunded. The former relied on EU taxpayers for more than half of its budget so hopefully it will wither and die before it can bring about its 'tobacco endgame strategy'.
Not a bad start. The full list of unsuccessful grant applications can be read here. I don't recognise them all by the abbreviations so if you spot any gems, let me know in the comments.
Have a great weekend!
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