About ENSP

ENSP’s mission is to develop a strategy for coordinated action among organisations active in tobacco control in Europe by sharing information and experience and through coordinated activities and joint projects. ENSP aims to create greater coherence among smoking prevention activities and to promote comprehensive tobacco control policies at both national and European levels.

ENSP is governed by a General Assembly consisting of representatives from national coalitions against tobacco in Europe, representatives from specialised European tobacco control networks and representatives from individual organisations active in tobacco control and/or health promotion. ENSP is administered by a regularly elected Executive Board which delegates the daily management and co-ordination of the network to a Secretariat in Brussels.

ENSP is the only truly pan-European network active in tobacco control being the key grassroots organisation in implementing the World Health organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) at a European level. This was acknowledged by the WHO-FCTC – Conference of Parties during the session in Uruguay (November 2010) when ENSP received FCTC observer status.

It is almost impossible to talk about FCTC in Europe without mentioning the involvement of at least one ENSP member. This united and collective effort is the essence, the heart and soul of the “Network” concept: each link makes the chain stronger; each node adds value to the structure. This added value is not only found in the strength of the partnership but also on a scientific level in everything ENSP does: its core activities, its EU projects but also its new scientific journal, Tobacco Prevention & Cessation.

Their vision for future is to eliminate the health inequalities among European citizens and their suffering caused by ill health and early death due to tobacco-related diseases. They want children and young people to be able to grow up without being targeted with messages that seek to lure them into a lifetime of addiction. They want all Europeans to be able to breathe clean air unpolluted by tobacco smoke. As they communicate more freely and cross country borders more frequently, they realise that our individual countries do not stand alone; they feel the reverberations of change throughout Europe. Therefore, they undertake to use the best evidence of effectiveness in policy and practice to work together towards our common goal.

The activities that ENSP conducts in order to attain its purpose are the following:

• to focus in priority on co-ordination and consensus-building, education, prevention and cessation
• to facilitate the creation and development of national and international alliances for smoking prevention and tobacco control in Europe, as well as support for their actions
• to promote collaboration amongst member organisations and support their actions
• to stimulate and participate in joint projects at national and international levels
• to undertake the collection, distribution and exchange of information relevant for tobacco control to the members of the network, non-governmental organisations, intergovernmental organisations, national governments all over Europe and the institutions of the European Union
• to sponsor, promote and organise education and training seminars, conferences, missions and exh ibitions on matters relevant to smoking and tobacco prevention and cessation.