Experts have called for pictorial warnings on Chinese cigarette packs at a seminar held by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control in Beijing.
The seminar heard that, to date, a total of 118 countries and regions have implemented pictorial warnings on cigarette packs. Of those, 105 have introduced health warnings covering at least 50 per cent of the packs and 15 coverage of not less than 75 per cent of the packs.
However, as the world's largest tobacco producer with the largest number of smokers, China has not yet introduced the pictorial measure, though it does have text health warnings on the packets.
Experts proposed that China should introduce health warning pictures on tobacco products promptly, as they believe it is the most effective method to show the health risks of smoking and persuade smokers to quit.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), health warnings should be 50 per cent or more of the principal display areas. The warnings should also be "large, clear, visible, and legible" and more than one warning should appear on packs either at the same time or over a prescribed time period.
Xu Guihua, a senior tobacco control expert, said most people in China supported the use of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs.
Graphic pictures on cigarette packs can lower the temptation of cigarettes to adolescents as shown by a survey, said Duan Jiali, the director of Tobacco Control Office, Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
She believes tobacco packs should be used as an effective tool to persuade teenagers to stay away from tobacco.
Content sourced from the People's Daily Online here