EU gets serious about the ill effects of smoking on health
The anti-tobacco campaign will tour the EU's 25 capitals
European Union Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou has launched a 72m euro anti-smoking campaign targeting children and young adults.
Mr Kyprianou, who used to be a heavy smoker, said more than 650,000 Europeans were dying every year from the effects of smoking.
The economic costs of smoking - in healthcare and lost working days - amounts to about 100bn euros annually.
Mr Kyprianou urged EU member states to ban smoking in public areas.
He told a news conference in Brussels that the average age of first-time smokers had dropped to 13.
The campaign, spread over the next four years, will include a series of EU-wide television and cinema advertisements.
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