Australia: Smokers Do Notice Health Warnings

Source from:  Sydney Morning Herald 01/09/2015

Smokers are almost twice as likely to notice health warnings on tobacco products that have packaging free of advertising.

A British Heart Foundation study of almost 3,000 smokers and ex-smokers in Australia and the UK found that the number of those in Australia who took notice of health warnings almost doubled after tobacco packets were stripped of branding in December 2012.

The foundation's report said just a third (34 per cent) of smokers and ex-smokers noticed the health warnings before any other information in 2010, compared with two thirds (66 per cent) after the legislation was implemented.

In the UK, where branded packaging still exists, just 24 per cent of people noticed the health warnings before other messages such as advertising.

The report also found 82 per cent of Australians did not like the look of tobacco products after standardised packaging was introduced.

The BHF said support for the new legislation in Australia among smokers and ex-smokers had almost doubled from 28 per cent in 2010 to 51 per cent in 2013.

The BHF is urging the British government to ensure standardised packaging is introduced before the general election.

According to the report, smoking rates in Australia dropped to a new low between 2010 and 2013, with 12.8 per cent of those aged over 14 smoking daily.

In the UK, 19 per cent of adults aged 18 or over smoke, figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show. Enditem