Inside EU Health: EMA vaccine confidence group; limits on vapes; liver health crisis

EMA ramps up fight against vaccine misinformation

The European Medicines Agency convened the first meeting of its new vaccine confidence advisory group yesterday (29 April).

Launching the initiative, EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke warned that “vaccine hesitancy is a growing global threat to public health”. She said the agency must do more to share transparent, evidence-based information and explain the science behind vaccine approvals so people can make informed decisions.

The group of 21 experts will track vaccine hesitancy trends, advise on ways to boost public confidence, sharpen EMA communications and amplify public health messaging.

Its members include high profile US figures: Paul Offit, author of the 'Beyond the Noise' Substack; Mike Osterholm, Director of Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and host of the ‘Osterholm Update’ podcast; and journalist and author Seth Mnookin.

But the group also has a glaring weakness: limited representation from Central and Eastern Europe, where vaccine hesitancy has become a persistent public health problem.

Countries such as Romania have some of the EU’s lowest childhood vaccination rates. Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity makes coordinated messaging harder, making more balanced geographical representation more important.

Spain and Belgium up their action on vapes

Ahead of the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive anticipated for autumn, EU countries look to their own national rule books.

Spain's two main political parties, the Popular Party (EPP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (S&D), have voted to confine the sale of vaping products and nicotine pouches to specialist stores.

Belgium’s federal government has reached an agreement to ban flavours in vapes. From 1 September 2028, only unflavoured and tobacco-flavoured vapes may be sold. Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke says the measure primarily aims to protect young people.

“With their appealing flavours, vapes are deliberately designed to tempt young people into smoking. That is unacceptable and must stop. It is our duty to protect people’s health, and certainly that of young people.”

Europe’s liver health crisis demands urgent action

An editorial, by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), in The Lancet warns that Europe is failing to confront a growing and largely preventable liver health crisis. The figures are stark: “almost 780 people die from liver cirrhosis or liver cancer every day in the European region,” while liver cancer mortality has increased by 51.4% since 2000. Liver disease is now the second leading cause of years of working life lost in Europe.

WHO/Europe’s Regional Director Hans Kluge writes that liver disease is driven by “modifiable risk factors” including alcohol consumption, obesity, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity - factors shaped not simply by personal choice, but by “social, economic, and commercial forces.”

The editorial is especially critical of Europe’s reluctance to confront those forces directly. It argues that current approaches too often “put the onus on consumers,” particularly on issues such as ultra-processed foods, alcohol labelling, and front-of-pack nutrition labelling. 

“The EU Safe Hearts Plan mentions ultra-processed food but focuses on information provision, ultimately putting the onus on consumers to make the right decision. This is a weak approach at best,” the editorial states, adding that some policies bear “the hallmarks of industry lobbying and corporate success.”

The authors warn that without stronger regulation of unhealthy food and alcohol environments, Europe’s liver disease burden will continue to rise. Their conclusion is blunt: the Commission should serve as “a wake-up call for Europe to take its NCD strategies seriously.”