UAE adopts shock tactics on tobacco

The United Arab Emirate's Ministry of Health is hoping to shock smokers into quitting the habit by stamping pictures of diseased organs and dying cancer patients on cigarette packets.

The photographs will start appearing on packs sold in the UAE from early next year.

Dr Wedad al Maidoor, head of the Ministry of Health's Tobacco Control Team, said she hoped the move, coupled with proposed price hikes for tobacco products, would significantly cut the numbers of young people adopting the habit.

"There are many young smokers in this country," she said. "According to the World Health Organisation, 10% of 13 to 15-year olds in the UAE smoke.

"However, we hope that the pictures will have a much bigger impact than the written warnings. They'll be harder to ignore."

Canada was the first country to include graphic warnings on its cigarette packs in January 2001 and has since reported a positive response to the tactic.

In a year following the introduction of the images on packs, 44% of more than 600 smokers surveyed by Cancer Research Canada said they were more motivated to quit.

Figures from one of the country's non-smoking groups, Physicians For a Smoke-Free Canada, show that in the first four years of the campaign, Canada's smoking rate dropped by 3%. The figures also report that by 2005, there were more than a million fewer smokers than in 2000.

Dr Vinod Joshi, founder of the UK Mouth Cancer Foundation, said that there was compelling evidence to indicate the initiative would be a success. "The evidence shows that these graphic warnings result in greater awareness of the risks.

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