The World Health Organization (WHO) has selected Tobacco Health Warnings as the theme for the World No Tobacco Day 2009, which will take place on 31 May 2009.
Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco. WHO particularly approves of tobacco health warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit. Such pictorial warnings appear in more than a dozen countries. They increase public awareness of the serious health risks of tobacco use and help to ensure that the packaging tells the truth about the deadly product within. Tobacco package health warnings that include images are a particularly powerful and cost-effective vehicle for communicating health risks.
On World No Tobacco Day 2009, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to adopt tobacco health warnings that meet all the criteria for maximal effectiveness, including that they cover more than half of the pack, appear on both the front and back of the pack and contain pictures.
The focus
Most people are unaware of the extent of the harm that tobacco causes, even if they have some idea that it is a health risk. Tobacco companies use packaging and other advertising techniques to make tobacco appealing, while distracting consumers from the harsh reality of how tobacco destroys health.
It is a proven fact that warnings on packaging are an inexpensive and powerful way to show the truth about tobacco consumption. Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioural changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption. Picture warnings convey a clear and immediate message, even to people who cannot read. They reduce the overall attractiveness of tobacco packages - an important function for a product whose new users are typically young and image - and brand-conscious.
In response to this threat and the demand from countries for action the following is the main message:
Health warnings on tobacco packages that combine text and pictures are one of the most cost-effective ways to increase public awareness of the serious health risks of tobacco use and to reduce tobacco consumption.
Tobacco facts
- Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.
- There are more than one billion smokers in the world.
- Globally, use of tobacco products is increasing.
- Almost half of the world's children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke.
- The epidemic is shifting to the developing world.
- More than 80% of the world's smokers live in low and middle-income countries.
- Tobacco use kills 5.4 million people a year - an average of one person every six seconds - and accounts for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide.
- Tobacco kills up to half of all users.
- It is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of deaths in the world.
Because there is a lag of several years between when people start using tobacco and when their health suffers, the epidemic of disease and death has just begun.
100 million deaths were caused by tobacco in the 20th century. If current trends continue, there will be up to one billion deaths in the 21st century.
Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million a year by 2030, and 80% of those deaths will occur in the developing world.
What is wrong in smoking?
Cigarettes are perhaps the only legal product whose advertised and intended use – smoking – is harmful to the body and causes cancer. Although some people try to make their smoking habit safer by smoking fewer cigarettes, most smokers find that hard to do. Research has found that even smoking as few as 1 to 4 cigarettes a day can have serious health consequences, including an increased risk of heart disease and a higher risk of dying at an earlier age. Some people think that switching from high-tar and high-nicotine cigarettes to those with low tar and nicotine makes smoking safer, but this is not true. When people switch to brands with lower tar and nicotine, they often end up smoking more cigarettes, or more of each cigarette, to get the same nicotine dose as before. A low-tar cigarette can be just as harmful as a high-tar cigarette because a person often takes deeper puffs, puffs more frequently, or smokes them to a shorter butt length.
Smoking causes many types of cancer, which may not develop for years. But cancers account for only about half of the deaths related to smoking. Smoking is also a major cause of heart disease, aneurysms, bronchitis, emphysema, and stroke, and it contributes to the severity of pneumonia and asthma. The truth is that cigarette smokers die younger than nonsmokers. Smoking also causes many short-term effects, such as decreased lung function. Because of this, smokers often suffer shortness of breath and nagging coughs, and they often will tire easily during physical activity. Some other common short-term effects: a diminished ability to smell and taste, premature aging of the skin, and increased risk of sexual impotence in men.
It is necessary to help those who wish to quit by making it easier for them to obtain the wide range of interventions for cessation including behavioural therapy and pharmacological interventions such as brief advice and counselling, intensive support and administration of pharmaceuticals that contribute to reducing or overcoming tobacco dependence in individuals and in the population as a whole. Evidence suggests that if cessation support is made available more people quit smoking successfully.
Source: WHO