Canada Rolls Out New Health Warnings

Canada has started rolling out 14 new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, reports Yahoo Finance.  Manufacturers must ensure the new labels are on packages by Jan. 31, and retailers are required to stock the packs by April 30, according to Health Canada.

The new labels feature smoking-related illnesses such as tongue, stomach and neck cancer, as well as gangrene. Canada pioneered the concept of graphic health warnings in 2001 and has frequently updated its image library to prevent the pictures from losing their shock value.

The latest set of photo warnings also build on various other harms of smoking, including heart attack, brain damage and death from stroke as well as impotence due to reduced blood flow to the penis.

Another set of 14 photo warnings is expected to appear on cigarette packages in two years.

Last year, the government also required cigarette manufacturers to print health warnings on individual cigarette sticks. Cigarettes now include messages, such as “poison in every puff,” in English and French.

Canada aims to  slash smoking rates from about 10 percent to less than 5 percent by 2035.