New graphic health warnings to help parents quit smoking and prevent children from starting’

Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today welcomed the introduction of new measures that will ensure that all cigarette packaging placed on the Irish market will have to display graphic photographs with a strong health warning. These images depict the negative health impacts associated with smoking.

Health warnings combined with coloured photographs have been shown in other countries to be an effective means of discouraging smoking and informing people about the health risks related to smoking.

Whilst smoking levels in adults in Ireland have seen a very welcome decline, this has been observed to a lesser extent in children and young people.

One in seven 15-17 year olds (14.3%) report smoking. Rates have remained fairly steady since June 2008 in the 15-17 year age group.

The introduction of photo images on cigarette packs in Canada resulted in a fourfold increase in smoker’s intentions to quit (20% before 87% after).

Minister Fitzgerald said, “We know from research that the best way to avoid the huge damage to health smoking can cause is by not starting in the first place. We know that this initiative is likely to be another contribution to achieving this. I am concerned at the levels of smoking in our young people and strongly support measures that will see these levels fall”
Second-hand smoke or passive smoking is a real and avoidable risk to health. It leads to increased risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. It also causes and aggravates asthma and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of passive smoking as their bodies’ defense mechanisms are less developed. This initiative will help parents who smoke to quit and so will also indirectly improve the health and well being of their children.

The introduction of these warnings builds on other legislative measures taken to date in relation to tobacco including the ban in 2009 of the display and advertising of tobacco products in retail units.