Italian cancer groups call for total indoor smoking ban and advertising ban

A manifesto from four cancer organisations

The Manifesto for the protection of non-smokers' rights was presented in Rome on 12 November 2026, at a conference held ahead of the 28th national congress of Aiom, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology. It was promoted by Aiom, Fondazione Airc per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi and Fondazione Aiom, and it is addressed to Parliament and the government. The document makes two urgent requests to lawmakers, and both sit at the centre of the appeal. Giulia Veronesi, a member of the smoking-control committee of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, put the core demand in plain terms.

“We are calling for a total ban on smoking indoors and on all forms of advertising.”

What the manifesto asks for

The first request is to extend to every device that produces inhalable emissions the indoor ban now applied to traditional cigarettes. That would cover e-cigarettes with or without nicotine and heated-tobacco products, in enclosed places open to the public or for collective use. The promoters also want protection extended to open and semi-open spaces with heavy footfall, including school and health-care areas, parks, playgrounds, sports facilities, beaches and dehors (outdoor seating areas). On advertising, the manifesto calls for existing bans to be strengthened, updated and extended to every category of new smoking and nicotine product. It also asks for a ban on promotion through digital channels, social media, influencers, events and points of sale, backed by tighter controls, more effective sanctions and stricter checks on sales to minors.

“They are two urgent measures to protect non-smokers and, more broadly, the younger generations from the dangers of cigarettes and all smoking products.”

Why the groups say current rules fall short

La Repubblica reports that Italy's smoking rules rest on the Sirchia law, which could not foresee products that sit outside the strict regime applied to traditional tobacco. According to the manifesto, the current rules do not account for the changing range of smoking products or for the way marketing now reaches young people. La Repubblica describes the industry as using increasingly colourful devices and aggressive campaigns, including large billboards at some of Italy's biggest airports. The same outlet describes the proposal as costing the country nothing. It also reports that Ireland first, followed by Great Britain and France, has already extended comparable rules, and that some Italian municipalities have done the same.

Teen smoking and the disease toll

The promoters' main concern is adolescents. The figures they cite show that 37% of young people aged 14 to 17 in Italy smoke more or less regularly. Of those smokers, 22% use heated tobacco and 30% use e-cigarettes, as shown in the chart below. Il Fatto Quotidiano reports estimates of more than 93,000 smoking-attributable deaths a year in Italy, about 35,000 of them from lung cancer.

Smoke more or less regularly37%

Use heated tobacco (share of smokers)22%

Use e-cigarettes (share of smokers)30%

Smoke more or less regularly

37 %

Use heated tobacco (share of smokers)

22 %

Use e-cigarettes (share of smokers)

30 %

Data from the article text

Next steps in Parliament

The manifesto will be sent to the Senate Health Committee, with the aim of reaching approval as soon as possible. It is being presented while the Senate has yet to discuss a popular-initiative bill that would add 5 euros to all smoking products. Aiom had earlier proposed a 5-euro increase on traditional cigarettes, according to La Repubblica, and the new manifesto widens the campaign from price to marketing and public spaces. The groups are asking Parliament to take up their proposal, and the committee stage is the next formal step.