This World No Tobacco Day, 31 May, The Union will unite with WHO and partners and call on all countries to get ready for plain packaging.
Plain packs are devoid of all branding and display large pictorial and written warnings on the health consequences of tobacco use. The background is a drab colour and brand variants can only be displayed in a standardised font. Pioneered in Australia in 2012, plain packs reduce the appeal of tobacco products – encouraging users to quit and dissuading others from taking up the habit.
‘Packaging is the final frontier for tobacco advertising and promotion. Plain packs take this significant marketing opportunity out of the hands of the tobacco industry, and repurpose the platform to convey clear public health messages,’ said Dr Ehsan Latif, Director of The Union’s Department of Tobacco Control. ‘This is a powerful tool, as the industry backlash so clearly illustrates. We must not underestimate its potential to reduce tobacco use and the sickness and poverty it causes. We encourage all governments to push for plain packs as soon as humanly possible.’
A report on the impact of plain packs released by Australia’s Department of Health in February this year showed that since introduction, smoking rates have fallen from 19.4 percent to 17.2 percent in over-14s. Although these reductions cannot be wholly attributed to plain packs, they have been widely credited as the latest powerful innovation in the country’s raft of measures that are reducing tobacco use.
The UK, Ireland and France are all set to introduce plain tobacco packaging this month, with New Zealand soon to follow. The European Union’s Tobacco Product Directive [TPD] also comes into force this month, introducing minimum requirements on tobacco packaging for all member states. These include graphic health warnings to cover the 65 percent of the surface area of the front and back of tobacco packs. Importantly the EU’s TPD specifically supports countries to introduce stronger legislation on tobacco packaging to protect health – paving the way for additional states to introduce plain packs.
‘Union teams around the world have been working hard to win this marketing opportunity away from the tobacco industry. Nepal and India have had notable successes in recent weeks and months with graphic health warnings now covering at least 85 percent of the surface area of tobacco packs,’ said Dr Latif. ‘The graphic element is vital for getting life-saving information to people in areas with low-literacy rates. If governments are serious about tackling health inequalities, they must make high impact visual warnings on all tobacco packaging mandatory without delay.’
Advocates around the world will mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May by raising awareness about the tobacco epidemic, and the policies that can curb it.
Find out more about WNTD and access marketing materials here.