In the UK hundreds of children aged 11-15 start smoking for the first time every day[1] and there is compelling evidence that children’s perceptions of cigarettes are influenced by branding. [2 3] As health professionals working to prevent and treat lung disease caused by smoking, we welcome the government’s decision to now go ahead with enabling legislation for standardised packaging of cigarettes in an amendment to the Children and Families Bill.
Industry documents make clear that since prohibition of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship was introduced cigarette packs are now the key marketing tool employed by the tobacco industry to attract and retain customers. Current tobacco packaging makes cigarettes and smoking appear more appealing and distracts attention from health warnings. Packaging also misleads consumers about the harmfulness of products. Although terms like “light” and “mild” have been banned, smokers still perceive lighter coloured packs to be less hazardous.
Standardised packaging will include requirements that packs are a standard drab colour and have large graphic health warnings front and back. Security features, including number codes and covert anti-counterfeit marks which can be read by scanners, will be retained, so it will be no easier to counterfeit products despite claims to the contrary from the tobacco industry.
Most smokers start before the age of 18 and the younger the age at which they start the greater the health risk. There is no time to lose and parliament must act now to protect children from the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry.
Dr Nicholas Hopkinson
Consultant Chest Physician, Chair British Thoracic Society Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Specialist Advisory Group
National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London SW3 6NP
Dr Colin Wallis
Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, British Paediatric Respiratory Society
Dr Bernard Higgins
Consultant Chest Physician, Chair British Thoracic Society
Dr Stephen Gaduzo
General Practitioner, Primary Care Respiratory Society
Rebecca Sherrington
Chair, Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists
Sarah Keilty
Consultant Respiratory Physiotherapist, Honorary President of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care
Dr Myra Stern
Consultant Chest Physician, Chair British Thoracic Society Tobacco Specialist Advisory Group
Professor John Britton
Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies
Professor Andrew Bush
Professor of Paediatrics, Imperial College, London.
Professor John Moxham
Professor of Respiratory Medicine, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Karl Sylvester,
Honorary Chair Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology
1. Cancer Research UK. New childhood smokers as estimated from the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England survey 2013.
2. Germain D, Wakefield MA, Durkin SJ. Adolescents' Perceptions of Cigarette Brand Image: Does Plain Packaging Make a Difference? The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 2010;46(4):385-92
3. Morgenstern M, Poelen EAP, Scholte R, et al. Smoking in movies and adolescent smoking: cross-cultural study in six European countries. Thorax 2011 doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2011-200489[published Online First: Epub Date]|.