graphic warnings

FCTC - Article 11 - Packaging and labelling of tobacco products

FCTC - Article 11 - Packaging and labelling of tobacco products (p.9/10)  (pdf format)

1. Each party shall, within a period of three years after the entry into force of this Convention for that Party, adopt and implement, in accordance with its national law, effective measures to ensure that:

Few countries have comprehensive pack warnings - from the MPower report p. 54/56

From the MPower Report, the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 (p.54/56) (pdf format)
Warning people about the harms of tobacco use is essential and can be achieved in many ways.
This initial report on the global tobacco epidemic reviews countries' requirements for size and characteristics of health warnings on tobacco packs, which disseminate health information at no cost to government except for enforcement.

The role of pack warnings (MPower report p.40/41)

From the MPower report , the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 (pages 40/41) (pdf format):
Health warnings on the packaging of all tobacco products are guaranteed to reach all users.
Tobacco manufacturers have always used packaging as a platform to reinforce brand loyalty and user's perceived self-image, particularly among young people.
Pack warnings reduce this marketing effect.

Filipinos want graphic warnings on cigarette packs

An unpublished survey done by the Philippine College of Chest Physicians for the September-October period showed that over 90 percent of Filipino smokers surveyed want picture-based warnings on the cigarette packs, instead of the usual textual-based ones.
The study, said anti-smoking group Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, Philippines (FCAP), shows that even smokers know how effective picture-based warnings could be.

FCTC: countries start drafting the guidelines for graphic health warnings

Some 150 delegates from the Philippines and 35 other countries are meeting beginning Wednesday to Friday (Nov. 7-9) at the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region office in Manila to draft the guidelines for putting these visual health warnings on the packages of tobacco products and other provisions of Article 11 of the global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of WHO.

Source : bayanihan.org