The Canadian Health Minister, Mr Allan Rock, received an enthusiastic response from delegates at the World Conference on Tobacco Or Health after presenting Canada's new tobacco labelling regulations.
The conference in Chicago is being attended by 4,500 professionals concerned with reducing tobacco use. It is being hosted by the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Canadian Products Information Regulations described by Mr Rock yesterday, which have just become law, are among the strongest health warning messages in the world. By next January, tobacco manufacturers who hold more than 2 per cent of the Canadian market are required to print 16 new graphic health messages covering 50 per cent of the display surface on their products.
"I have no doubt that this new initiative, in conjunction with the many other measures we have put in place, will make a difference," Mr Rock said. "The fight against tobacco use is global. It is hoped other countries will benefit from our approach and experience and, as a result, we may see improved cigarette-labelling regimes across the planet".
The new health warnings pull no punches. The colour images are graphic and in many cases shocking. In addition, health information leaflets must be inserted inside cigarette packs, with detailed toxic emission data printed along the outside.
A typical leaflet includes the following question: "If I have lung cancer, what are my chances of surviving?"
The answer says: "Sixty per cent of lung cancer victims die within one year. Smoking causes 85 per cent of all lung cancers. Quitting smoking reduces your chance of getting lung cancer."
The graphic health warning messages are designed to have a particular impact on young people and expectant mothers.
They include a picture of a premature infant in an incubator, with the message "Tobacco Smoke Hurts Babies". The text continues: "Tobacco use during pregnancy increases the risk of pre-term birth. Babies born pre-term are at an increased risk of infant death, illness and disability."
The Canadian tobacco industry has already challenged the new legislation in the Quebec Superior Court. Delegates heard evidence that smokers did not understand either the nature of the risks or the magnitude of the dangers of tobacco products. In 1994, moving a warning from the bottom of the package to the top and a change to a stark black-and-white format improved consumer recall from 20 to 95 per cent.
This suggests that visible and specific warnings can have a positive impact on those starting to smoke as well as those considering quitting.
The EU Commissioner for Consumers and Food Safety, Mr David Byrne, is piloting a series of tobacco advertising measures through the European Parliament. They include a ban on the use of terms such as light and low tar on cigarettes packaging.