Canada becomes first country to put health warnings on individual cigarettes

Canada has come out with a regulation that would soon require health warnings to be printed on individual cigarettes, making it the first country to implement such kind of initiative as it aims to reduce tobacco usage to less than 5 per cent by 2035.

“Tobacco smoke harms children,” “Cigarettes cause leukaemia,” “Poison in every puff,”— such kind of health warnings would soon be seen printed on every cigarettesold in Canada.

“The new Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations will be part of the Government of Canada’s continued efforts to help adults who smoke to quit, to protect youth and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction, and to further reduce the appeal of tobacco,” Canadian health officials said in a news release on Wednesday.

These labels would be printed on the tipping paper, which is the outermost paper of the filter section, of individual cigarettes, little cigars, tubes, along with other tobacco products. The warnings would be written in English and French.

Initiative can deter smoking

The officials believe that such an initiative would virtually make it impossible for smokers to avoid health warnings.

The new rules would take effect on August 1, but the official said that it would be carried out in phases.

Retailers who sell tobacco product packages will have to feature the new warnings by the end of April 2024; king-size cigarettes will first feature the individual warnings by the end of July 2024; followed by regular-sized cigarettes and other products by the end of April 2025, thenews release said.

A welcome move

The move was welcomed by health activities, including the Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Lung Association and Heart & Stroke Foundation were among the organisations that welcomed the news.

“It’s going to mean that there’s a warning with every cigarette, every puff, it’s going to be there during every smoke break,” Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, told CTV News Channel.

In an open letter on Monday, the three national health organisations had called on Canada's premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies.

(With inputs from agencies)

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