OTTAWA—Organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Lung Association applaud the Federal government proposing to print health warnings on individual cigarettes.
The measures which the government proposes aims to strengthen regulations for tobacco product packaging and labelling.
Historically, tobacco continues to be the leading cause of illness and premature death in Canada. Tobacco use kills approximately 48, 000 Canadians annually; a statistic that is shadowed by the fact that current warnings on tobacco products have become stale for the 13 per cent of individuals in Canada who smoke.
As a result of recognizing the importance of protecting the health of people in Canada and ensuring people stay informed about the health risks of tobacco use, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister for Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, announced the launch of a 75-day public consultation period beginning on June 11 to seek feedback from people in Canada that will inform the development of new proposed tobacco labelling regulations.
"Reducing the devastating harms of tobacco use remains a top priority for health and health care in Canada. To better inform Canadians about the effects of smoking on their health and on the health of those around them, our government is proposing to strengthen regulations that would introduce new warnings of health hazards and negative health effects on tobacco products. If implemented, they would prevent the preventable as they better communicate the health risks of smoking to millions of people across the country each day, helping more Canadians live healthier, happier, and tobacco-free lives,” stated Bennett
The proposed written health warnings printed on individual cigarettes, cigars that have a filter and cigarette tubes, would help ensure these health-related messages aimed at those who use these smoking products, in particular youth and young adults, become aware of the health hazards these products carry with them.
If this initiative is adopted, Canada would become the first country in the world to introduce such a requirement.
Senior policy analyst, Canadian Cancer Society, Rob Cunningham, reacted to the government’s announcement by saying, “The proposed regulations are an essential, effective measure to reduce tobacco use and are internationally ground breaking in several respects, including with some world precedent setting provisions. Canada already has the world's best tobacco plain packaging regulations. With the proposed regulations, Canada would also have the world's best overall tobacco health warning system, including enhanced messages on the package exterior, messages inside the package that are internationally unique, and health messages on the cigarette itself, a world first."
The primary objective of Canada’s present Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, to raise public awareness about the health hazards of tobacco use, would be supported by this proposed initiative, and would strengthen the gains of the current tobacco product labelling requirements. The Federal Government also hopes to consolidate all tobacco product product labelling and packaging requirements in a single set of regulations: the Tobacco Products Packaging and Labelling Regulations.
"Heart & Stroke applauds the federal government's proposal to strengthen health warnings for tobacco packaging including the bold measure of adding warnings on cigarettes themselves. Messages that clearly and directly highlight the dangers associated with these products will reduce their appeal to youth as well as support current smokers in their efforts to quit smoking,” said Doug Roth CEO, Heart and Stroke.
The Government of Canada wants input from interested parties, and therefore invites them to submit their comments by email to [email protected] until August 25, 2022. This feedback from the consultation will help to formulate the development of the final regulations.
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos Minister of Health affirms that, "As a government, we are committed to use every tool at our disposal, including tobacco packaging and labelling to help protect the health of all Canadians, especially young people and non-smokers. Through Canada's Tobacco Strategy we are working to reduce tobacco use from 13 per cent to less than 5 per cent by 2035, which is a commitment we keep making strides towards. Making sure that everyone across the country can receive credible information on the risks of tobacco use so they can make healthier choices is crucial for the well being of everyone."
It was back in 2000 that Canada first adopted warning requirements for tobacco product packaging and over the past decades, tobacco use has fallen from 28 per cent in 1998 to 13 per cent today. Presently, health warning messages and images for cigarettes and cigars have been in place since 2011.
