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World No Tobacco Day 2009
Show the truth.
Picture warnings save lives.
Theme: Tobacco Health Warnings
Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death. More than five million people die from
the effects of tobacco every year — more than from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
It is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as the manufacturer intends.
Up to half of all smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease. Second-hand smoke harms
everyone who is exposed to it.
 Tobacco
companies spend tens of millions of dollars every year
turning new users into addicts and keeping current users
from quitting. Through advertising and promotional
campaigns, including the use of carefully crafted
package designs, the tobacco industry continues
to divert attention from the deadly effects of its
products.
More and more countries are fighting back by
requiring that tobacco packages graphically show the
dangers of tobacco, as called for in the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control. They use the MPOWER
technical assistance package developed by WHO to help
meet
their commitments under this international treaty.
Effective health warnings, especially those that
include pictures, have been proven to
motivate users to quit and to reduce the appeal of
tobacco for those who are not yet
addicted. Despite this fact, 9 out of 10 people live
in countries that do not require warnings with
pictures on tobacco packages.
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance. Warning
people about its true risks can go a long way
towards reducing tobacco addiction. Requiring warnings
on tobacco packages is a simple, cheap
and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco
use and save lives.
The Regional office
developed health warnings for the Eastern Mediterranean
member states.
Now is the time to act.
Examples of picture-based
health warnings
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