The tobacco industry increasingly uses the cigarette pack as a key marketing method. The Tobacco Pack Surveillance System (TPackSS) project collected packs from 14 low- and middle-income countries to study compliance with health warning label (HWL) laws and the marketing appeals used in pack designs. These fact sheets show HWL compliance.
After a recent menthol ban in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia, researchers from the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that many menthol “replacement” packs (packs with similar coloring or flavor without menthol) are on sale. Almost 90 percent of the redesigned packs are marketed as a different, smooth alternative to menthol or regular cigarettes. Read the study here.
This study evaluated Russian-language websites selling electronic cigarettes for advertising claims and appeals that used by companies. Harm reduction and health promotion claims were the most prevalent, though few websites included any kind of health warnings or usage disclaimers. Read the fact sheet.
With advertising restrictions changing in countries all around the world, tobacco companies haven taken to cigarette packs and even cigarettes themselves to entice users and sell their brand.
Find out more about this year’s World No Tobacco Day (May 31) theme, plain packaging, through this multi-part series. WHO also offers World No Tobacco Day information and graphics.
This web-based resource provides a description of select country-level laws that regulate the sale, use, advertising, promotion, taxation and/or classification of e-cigarettes. Find full text policies, sort by policy domain or product classification, compare countries and more. As of November 2015, 71 countries included in the report have national/federal laws that regulate e-cigarettes. Visit the page
Researchers in Indonesia found that pictorial warnings on cigarettes packs were more effective than text for all people surveyed. However, the effect of testimonial stories versus description-only (didactic) warning labels depended on the age of the respondent. This research will help advise new health warning labels in Indonesia, and can help support warning label research globally. Read the fact sheet
In Brazil, cigarettes are often displayed in the same location as candy, chocolate, gum and other products that children buy. This research sought to assess the association between noticing cigarette packages displayed at the point of sale (POS) and smoking susceptibility in Brazilian adolescents. Read in English or Português.
New: Egypt fact sheet! Researchers evaluated exposure to secondhand smoke in waterpipe (or hookah) venues by measuring secondhand smoke constituents in air and exposure biomarkers in venue employees in Egypt, Russia (
This research shows that 63 percent of retail outlets near Mexican secondary schools sell tobacco, which could attract children to smoking. The fact sheet includes data on promotions and advertising in stores, sales of loose cigarettes, warning labels and more from Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Read in English and Español.
This fact sheet reports the opinions and perception of smoke-free laws and compliance in Turkey. Researchers surveyed school principals and hospitality owners and employees in seven cities, identifying opportunities for improving implementation. Read the fact sheet.
The first round smoke-free compliance work can be found in these fact sheets.