In excellent news for public health and bad news for big tobacco, Yahoo! news reports:

Ministers from 10 countries gathered in Paris Monday to launch a common drive to introduce plain cigarette packaging with the aim of stubbing out high smoking rates among young people.

Representatives from nations as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Uruguay issued a joint statement saying that “significant scientific proof justified … plain cigarette packaging”.

The ministers said plain packaging had been shown to “reduce the attractiveness of the product for consumers, especially amongst women and young people” as well as increase the effectiveness of health warnings on packets.

Hosting the conference, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said the aim was “a world without tobacco” and that “the generation that is born today should be a generation without tobacco”.

Full story here.