GENEVA - Cigarette packages should include images of sickness and suffering caused by tobacco, along with written warnings, the World Health Organization said Friday.
The U.N. agency urged governments to make people more aware of the health consequences of smoking. It said most countries still do not warn consumers of the risks on packages of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco.
"Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives," said Dr. Ala Alwan, a senior WHO official. "Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioral changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption."
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death, killing more than 5 million people worldwide each year. WHO says it is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer.
Warning pictures on cigarette and other tobacco packs have helped smokers kick the habit and prevented others from becoming addicted, WHO said. It cited studies of such campaigns in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand, and said they revealed "remarkably consistent findings."
But only a tenth of the world's population lives in countries requiring warning pictures, WHO said. It said governments needed to address that
shortcoming as ignorance still prevails on the dangers of smoking.
For example, a study 
in China showed that barely a third of smokers knew they were at higher risk of heart disease and only 17 percent knew that smoking causes strokes, the agency said. In Syria, just a fraction of university students knew that cardiovascular disease was a hazard of cigarette or water pipe smoking.
WHO has taken an increasingly strong stance against tobacco in recent years. It sponsored a 2003 treaty to control tobacco use and has urged a world ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and public buildings. It also has said it will not hire any prospective employees who smoke or use other tobacco products.
Graphic Cigarette Labels Aim to Scare—And Succeed
Disturbing images of smoking side effects are making an impact.
Cigarettes are bad for you. We’ve all heard it before, so it can’t be considered news. But when you consider that tobacco kills more than 5 million people every year, it makes sense to keep posting the sticky note for the world to see.
Sunday was World No Tobacco Day, and the World Health Organization is still trying to get the word out about the dangers of tobacco use. The theme of the day was "Tobacco Health Warnings."
It appears that just putting a text warning from the Surgeon General that smoking causes lung center, heart disease, and emphysema and may complicate pregnancy—among other health problems—isn't enough. The WHO is trying to entice more countries to use graphic imagery in their warnings, because they've been shown to be effective at changing smokers' behavior. These images include a brain bleeding from a stroke, an infant born prematurely, and rotting teeth.
There are currently 23 countries with a combined population of 700 million people that require large graphic warnings on packaging. More countries, including Latvia and Switzerland, have finalized legislation for graphic warnings by 2010. Yet these nations are still just a small percentage of the world. The U.S. is not on this list, but that may be just a matter of time.
The graphic warnings make a measurable impact. We humans are a very visually stimulated animal. Who would want to carry around a box with images of dead babies or people with oral cancer or gangrene? Studies in several countries show that the spooky ads work, or at least it makes people think about quitting. Here are some examples:
- Brazil—67 percent said warnings made them want to quit
- Canada—44 percent said warnings increased their motivation to quit
- Singapore—28 percent said they consumed fewer cigarettes as a result of the warnings
- Thailand—44 percent of smokers said the pictorial warnings made them "a lot" more likely to quit over the next month.
Thinking about quitting and actually quitting tobacco use are two entirely different things, but it's a positive step in a healthier direction.
