The European Code Against Cancer, 5th edition (ECAC5) consists of 14 recommendations based on current scientific evidence on personal behavioural factors, environmental factors, and medical interventions, specific to the general population in the EU. For the first time, ECAC5 is aimed not only at individuals but also at policy-makers, including 14 complementary recommendations on population-level measures that may reinforce the recommendations for individuals. These recommendations provide co-benefits to prevent other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) with similar underlying risk factors, and opportunities for health promotion. Together, the ECAC5 recommendations provide a roadmap to reduce cancer risk, tackle misconceptions about cancer, and improve public health and well-being.

1. Smoking​
Do not smoke. Do not use any form of tobacco, or vaping products. If you smoke, you should quit. The following policy recommendations are aligned with existing international policies:

Tobacco and nicotine-containing products

• Adopt, implement, and enforce comprehensive tobacco control policies, as per the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including:
  Measures to raise tobacco taxes to at least 75% of tobacco’s retail price and significantly increase tobacco taxes every year. All tobacco products should be taxed in a comparable way as appropriate, in particular where the risk of substitution exists.
  Measures to restrict the availability and accessibility of tobacco products. This includes increasing the age of sale and allowing the sale of tobacco products only in licensed stores.
  Measures to ban tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including display bans at the point of sale.
  Provision of smoking cessation services. Identify and allocate sustainable funding for tobacco cessation and tobacco dependence treatment programmes.
  Large graphic health warnings, labelling, and plain, standardized packaging for tobacco products.
• Extend such regulations to apply to all tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, and all novel tobacco and nicotine-containing products.
• Establish and work towards achieving a goal for a tobacco-free generation in your country.
• Complementing the above-mentioned policy measures, implement regular public health campaigns to raise awareness of the damaging effects of tobacco and the benefits of smoking cessation.

6. Alcohol
Avoid alcoholic drinks. The following policy recommendations are aligned with existing international policies:

• Increase prices of alcohol through taxation to make alcohol less affordable.
• Establish a minimum price for all alcoholic beverages.
• Restrict the availability and accessibility of all alcoholic beverages.
• Ensure that no alcoholic beverages are offered in any public catering services.
• Increase minimum legal age limits to at least 19 years for selling and serving all alcoholic beverages.
• Ban or restrict advertising, promotion, and sponsorship of all alcoholic beverages in all media and for all purposes, especially those targeting minors.
• Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment of alcohol use disorder in primary care and community settings.
• Introduce health warning labels related to alcohol consumption and nutrition labelling on all alcoholic beverages.
• Complementing the above-mentioned policy measures, implement regular public health campaigns to raise awareness of the detrimental effects of alcohol intake on health and its association with cancer risk.