Canada is poised to become the first country in the world to require health warnings printed on every cigarette.
It follows the inclusion of graphic warnings on tobacco product packaging – a policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago.
The UK introduced the same thing in 2008.
Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Carolyn Bennett said fresh impetus was needed as the photos “may have lost their novelty…and may also have lost their impact”.
She said adding health warnings to each type of tobacco would ensure the message reaches everyone, including young people “who regularly have access to tobacco at a time in different situations”. society, ignoring the information printed on the packaging”.
A consultation period for the proposed change will begin and the government anticipates the changes will come into force in the second half of 2023.
While the exact message printed on cigarettes may vary, Ms Bennett said the current recommendation is: “Toxic in every puff”.
She also revealed the expanded warnings for cigarette packs to include a longer list of the harmful effects of smoking on health, including stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes and heart disease. peripheral blood vessels.
Canada has requested a photo alert since the turn of the millennium, but the photos have not been updated in a decade.
Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said he hopes the warnings printed directly on cigarettes will become widespread around the world, just as the warnings on the packaging have done. .
“This will set a world precedent,” he said.
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The move also drew praise from Geoffrey Fong, a professor at the University of Waterloo and principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Review Project.
“This is a really powerful intervention to enhance the impact of health warnings,” he said.
Smoking rates are declining in Canada. The latest data from Statistics Canada, released last month, shows that 10% of Canadians report smoking regularly.
The government is looking to cut that rate in half by 2035.
