Graphic warnings from today

Starting today, graphic health warnings are required to be printed on cigarette packs sold in South Korea, according to a story in The Korea Herald.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare was quoted as saying that all cigarette packs sold in the country, including those sold at duty-free shops, must carry one of 10 designated full-color pictures accompanied by warnings about the adverse health effects of tobacco smoking.

Some of the pictures show the effects of fatal diseases such as lung cancer, oral cancer, heart attacks and strokes.

Text warnings include those concerning the dangers of second-hand smoke, smoking while pregnant, sexual dysfunction, skin aging and premature death.

The graphic health warnings must be placed on the upper part of both the main faces of cigarette packs, with the pictures covering more than 30 percent of each of these faces.

“After reviewing figures from 18 countries which adopted the graphic health warning labels, it was found that the smoking rate fell by 13.8 percent in Brazil, while the average for these countries was around four percent, after these labels were attached,” said a ministry official.

At the same time as it is introducing the graphic warnings, the ministry is planning to resume, after 14 years, anti-smoking television slots.