May 29, 2009
For Immediate Release

SHOW THE TRUTH. PICTURE WARNINGS SAVE LIVES

Buffalo, NY – Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) join with the World Health Organization (WHO) to urge nations around the world to adopt pictorial health warnings on tobacco products for World No Tobacco Day – May 31, 2009 and throughout the year. The WHO campaign slogan is “Show the truth. Picture warnings save lives.”

The WHO is encouraging governments to adopt tobacco health warnings that meet all the criteria for maximal effectiveness, including that they cover more than half of the pack, appear on both the front and back of the pack and contain pictures.

“WHO’s show the truth campaign makes a lot of sense as research, which compares the effectiveness of warnings labels among different countries, has clearly demonstrated that picture-based warnings work better than the small text-based warnings on cigarette packets,” said Dr. K. Michael Cummings PhD, Chairman of the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Bigger, better health warnings offer a deterrent to tobacco use to current smokers and provide a strong disincentive to young people who may be considering smoking cigarettes for the first time.

Dr. Cummings is part of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC) team of researchers who have conducted studies in a number of regions across the world including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia confirming what WHO is saying about warning labels.

“A lot of people say these (warnings) go too far but what should a warning look like for a product that kills 1/3 to ½ of its users?” says ITC team member David Hammond in a recent interview.

A special report prepared by the ITC and interviews with team members can be found at: http://roswelltturc.org/.

In Western New York, RPCI scientists will investigate public response to pictorial and non-pictorial cigarette packaging through voluntary surveys conducted at various public venues. Maansi Bansal-Travers, PhD and Ernesto Sebrié, MD, Department of Health Behavior, RPCI plan to visit shopping malls, department stores, festivals, and baseball games to show adult smokers and nonsmokers different pack designs and ask a few questions about what they think of the designs. This work will begin this week and will continue throughout the summer.

As part of the investigation, these scientists will ask individuals to offer their opinions as to which cigarette packages they believe would be more effective in preventing young people from starting to smoke and persuading current smokers to quit.

“Studies conducted by Roswell Park in Europe and China have shown that large, graphic pictorial warnings are more powerful than text-only warnings in educating the public about the dangers of smoking,” said Dr. Bansal-Travers.

“Every day, approximately, 3500 kids will try a cigarette for the first time, and another 1,000 will become new, regular daily smokers. One-third of these kids will eventually die prematurely as a result of their addiction. We believe that large graphic warning on every single cigarette package can make a difference in these staggering numbers,” said Dr. Sebrié.

World No Tobacco Day was created by the World Health Organization in 1987. It draws global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to its negative health effects. The day aims to reduce the 5 million yearly deaths worldwide from tobacco-related health problems.

The Erie-Niagara Tobacco Free Coalition is housed at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY and is part of the New York State Tobacco Control Program. The Coalition is part of a network covering all counties in New York State whose goal is to change the community environment to support the tobacco-free norm.

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