Health warnings on cigarette packages prompt smokers to think about quitting, according to a 14-nation study. Effective warning labels as a component of comprehensive tobacco control can help save lives by reducing tobacco use, according to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 27, 2011, Vol. 60:20, pp. 645-651).
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey was conducted once in each of the 14 countries between 2008 and 2010 by national governments, ministries of health, survey implementing agencies, and international partners through face-to-face personal interviews using electronic data collection.
The study found that adult usage of manufactured cigarettes varied widely in the 14 countries surveyed: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, the Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Vietnam. Among men, prevalence ranged from 9.6% (India) to 59.3% (Russian Federation). Among women, prevalence was highest in Poland (22.9%) and less than 2% in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
"Warning labels motivate smokers to quit and discourage nonsmokers from starting, are well-accepted by the public, and can be effectively implemented at virtually no cost to governments," stated CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, in a press release.
According to the report, the vast majority of men who use manufactured cigarettes noticed package warning labels -- more than 90% of men in all countries except India (78.4%) and Mexico (83.5%). Among women, more than 90% in seven of the 14 countries reported noticing package warnings, and at least 75% in 12 of 14 countries reported noticing a package warning. Among those who noticed package warnings, data suggest there was substantial interest in quitting because of the warnings, according to the CDC.
Prominent, pictorial warnings are most effective in communicating the harms of smoking, and use of such warnings is strongly encouraged by CDC and the World Health Organization. At the time the surveys were conducted, five of the 14 countries participating in the survey had adopted pictorial warnings already, the CDC noted. Since that time, four additional countries have passed legislation requiring pictorial warnings.
