Health Warnings on cigarette packs help smokers get rid of the habit

Health warnings on cigarette packs speaking about the health risks of tobacco consumption make smokers want to quit, and graphic images showing consequences of smoking are the most effective in pushing smokers to stop puffing, a study published last week concludes.

Almost all adult cigarette lovers in countries which ratified World Health Organization Convention on Tobacco Control, which forces tobacco companies to place the health warning images, noticed the new warnings, and nearly 50 percent of smokers from 6 of 14 countries which took part in the study, admitted the warnings pushed them to consider quitting, according to the study.
In the rest 8 countries, excluding Poland, almost one in four surveyed smokers admitted that health warnings encouraged them to think abut getting rid of the habit, the study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded.

During the study, the scientists examined information collected in 2008-2010 in a survey of smokers in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Egypt, Ukraine, China, Turkey, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, Uruguay, the Philippines, Russia and Poland, for the Global Adult Tobacco Survey.

They discovered that health warnings which are most likely to prompt smokers to think about kicking the habit occupy more than a half of the pack and include images or graphics to depict the dangerous impact of smoking.
Using pictures as health warnings not only helps to target smokers who can’t read, but might as well be a more efficient at reaching smokers and stimulating them to get rid of the habit, the CDC report confirms.
Thailand and Brazil both introduced "many large and graphic health warnings on tobacco products’ packs" and in these countries the study found the highest rates of adult smokers willing to give up smoking since the warnings were established, the study adds.

For some unclear reasons, thoughts about getting rid of smoking were also at a high level in Vietnam and Bangladesh, where health warnings occupy less than 50 percent of the packages and lack images, the study found.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is willing to get additional research to attempt to discover how many adult smokers who have thoughts about giving up smoking after seeing graphic warnings actually do quit, and to identify other reasons which are effective in getting smokers stop lighting up.

According to the data provided by the World Health Organization, tobacco consumption is the number one cause of preventable deaths, and is reported to take away approximately five million lives annually across the world, mainly in poor and developing countries.

Pictorial health warnings on the packages of tobacco products are regarded by the WHO to be a major means in the war with the global tobacco usage, together with price increases, anti-smoking policies, and advertising bans.