Picture warnings will'make smokers give up'
Last updated at 15:50 06 February 2007
A study of different warnings on packets around the world revealed pictures of diseased lungs, oral cancer and congested arteries would spur more
Picture warnings will'make smokers give up'
Last updated at 15:50 06 February 2007
A study of different warnings on packets around the world revealed pictures of diseased lungs, oral cancer and congested arteries would spur more people to give up.
Proposals are now being put together to add images to cigarette packets in Britain. Research funded by Cancer Research UK found prominent warnings were more likely to be read but they must also be updated regularly or smokers became inured to them.
Professor Gerard Hastings, of the Institute of Social Marketing at the University of Stirling, said: "We know health warnings work and can save lives as a result. But this study shows that the design and freshness of the message affects how well it does its job."
Warnings on packets in four countries were analysed. Images used in Canada had the most impact and text messages on the side of packets in America the least. The UK recently increased the size of warnings and put them on the front of packets which raised their effectiveness and motivated more people to quit.
But picture warnings had a great impact on making smokers think about the health implications and were more likely to make them put down the cigarette they were about to smoke.
Almost 15,000 smokers were surveyed over four years on their awareness of the health messages, any changes in understanding of the risk, their intention or motivation to quit and behaviour changes.
Jean King, director of tobacco control at Cancer Research UK, urged ministers to bring in warnings using the "hardest hitting" images.
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