This year for World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization is urging governments to build on advertising and promotion bans by introducing plain packaging of tobacco products.

The measure is the next logical step in stripping away any hint of glamour associated with smoking. It is also an important way of preventing packaging creating misleading suggestions of some tobacco products being less harmful. There is also evidence that plain packaging enhances the impact of graphic health warnings.

Evidence from Australia, the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging, demonstrates the effectiveness. The UK has now introduced plain packaging. Ireland and France have passed plain packaging legislation, and several other countries are set to follow.

Read more:

• WHO – World No Tobacco Day 2016
• Implementation and evaluation of the Australian plain packaging policy