53% dismiss 'shock tactics' plan on smoking

Plans to introduce shocking photographs on cigarette packets on sale in the UAE have been dismissed as scare tactics by the majority of Arabian Business readers in an online poll.

Health chiefs in the region are putting pictures of diseased organs and dying cancer patients on all packets in a bid to deter people from smoking.

But the proposal has been criticised by 53 percent of people who took part in our poll who believe the photos won't have any impact on how many cigarettes people in the region smoke.

Residents of the UAE spend about $109million a year on tobacco and a government official said the move should help to reduce the number of smokers and, in particular, prevent non-smokers from taking up the habit.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 10 per cent of those aged between 13 and 15 are smokers in the UAE, while in the GCC 13 per cent of youth are smokers.

But less than six percent of respondents said the graphic imagery would encourage them to stop smoking immediately while a further 14 percent said the photos might make them think twice before buying a packet of cigarettes.

More than a quarter of people approved of the initiative saying they would probably persuade them to cut down on the number of cigarettes they smoke but not force them to give up altogether.

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