Tougher tobacco warning labels needed

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Tougher tobacco warning labels needed
The U.S. has long needed stronger warning labels on tobacco products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed rule, “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],” would require cigarette packs to carry one of nine new textual warning statements (such as “Smoking causes mouth disease” and “Cigarettes are addictive”), accompanied by graphic depictions of the negative health consequences of smoking. The new warning labels will occupy 50 percent of the upper portion of the front and rear panels of the package.
Although the proposed FDA warning labels were pre-tested, we would recommend further testing as the study population demographics were not comparable to the population of current smokers in the United States. The study used small sample sizes for minority groups and populations with lower income and lower educational status,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], making it difficult to assess differences in efficacy of the warning labels across these groups. Because of this, the findings may not be relevant to minority populations, as well as the majority of smokers in the U.S.,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who tend to have lower levels of education and incomes.
We strongly support and endorse the FDA’s proposed rule — expected to be completed in June — as a fundamental and necessary component of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but urge the FDA to further strengthen the warning labels according to best practices. We also encourage the FDA to not try to reinvent the wheel,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but to re-use (with adaptation,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], if required) the most effective warnings that have been implemented in 40 other countries around the world.