New images set to shock smokers
2 October 2008
We are very confident that these images will encourage smokers to give up and deter youngsters from starting or becoming regular
smokers. 
Amanda Sandford, Research Manager, Ash
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Shocking new images of the damaging health effects of smoking are to appear on all tobacco products sold in the UK from 1 October.
Among the images to be used are diseased lungs, throat cancer and even a dead body.
The pictures are being introduced as part of the Government's target to reduce the number of adults in the UK who smoke to one in five or fewer by 2010.
Evidence from Canada, where picture warnings have been used on packaging since 2000, has shown that they are more memorable than written messages. It was also found that using images makes people more likely to remember the written warnings that accompany them.
Amanda Sandford, Research Manager from Ash, told the Bupa health information team: "We are very pleased with the introduction of these strong, graphic images that bring home the realities of smoking. The written warnings have been helpful, but after time they lose their effectiveness and need to be refreshed."
"We are very confident that these images will encourage smokers to give up and deter youngsters from starting or becoming regular smokers."
Warnings on packs are a key factor in persuading people to give up smoking. Figures from the NHS Stop Smoking Line show that warnings on tobacco products are the second most common reason for people calling the helpline. Picture warnings on the packaging also mean that there is less space for the tobacco companies' branding - another benefit according to Amanda Sandford.
"These stark images would be even more effective if they were on a plain pack. If we could get rid of the branding altogether, the warnings would be doubly effective," she said.
"We are getting to the stage where everything that can be done under current legislation has been done. The smoking ban was one of the most important public health moves in recent years, but we need to build on that and keep pushing the boundaries."
It's estimated that 400,000 people gave up smoking as a result of the introduction of the smoking ban in England. In Canada, a study showed that one in three smokers had quit as a result of the use of picture warnings on tobacco products.
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