World's First: Canada asks cigarette companies to put health warning on individual cigarettes

Individual cigarettes in Canada will soon come with mandatory health warnings in a bid to discourage smoking and promote public health in Canada. The new regulations, set to be implemented this week, will be the first of their kind worldwide. The government’s aim is to make it exceedingly difficult for smokers to ignore the potential risks associated with tobacco consumption. Canadian authorities have taken this step in response to the alarming statistics regarding tobacco-related deaths. An estimated 48,000 Canadians lose their lives each year due to tobacco-related illnesses. In a bid to combat this concerning trend, the government will now require every individual cigarette to carry warning messages related to the harmful effects of smoking. Warnings such as “poison in every puff” and “cigarettes cause impotence” will be prominently displayed on cigarette packaging. Over the years, Canada has introduced a series of measures to curb smoking rates in the country. Approximately 13% of Canadians currently use tobacco products, incurring a hefty cost of over $6 billion to the public healthcare system annually. However, this percentage has significantly declined from the 1965 figure when about half of the population smoked. The decline in smoking rates is attributed to increased awareness of the health risks associated with tobacco use and the implementation of federal and provincial regulations governing tobacco sales, taxation, and advertising. Notably, Canada was the pioneer in enforcing pictorial warnings on cigarette packages back in 2001. Additionally, the country later implemented bans on indoor smoking, further demonstrating its commitment to public health. The latest regulations, known as the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging, and Labelling Regulations (TPAPLR), also include a rotation scheme for the health warning messages. This means that every two to three years, the warnings will be updated with new images and text to continuously raise awareness among smokers. The Canadian Lung Association CEO, Terry Dean, has welcomed these new measures, describing the individual cigarette warnings as “quite unique and novel.”