Myanmar's cigarette packs to carry graphic health warnings

[webfact]

Myanmar's cigarette packs to carry graphic health warnings

YANGON: -- Starting September 1, health warnings and graphic pictures illustrating the dangers of tobacco will appear on all brands of cigarette and other tobacco products available in Myanmar, The Myanmar Times reported.

Union Minister for Health Dr Than Aung announced the move on Tuesday. He said consumption of cigarettes and other forms of tobacco is high in Myanmar, and is considered a public health problem. According to studies carried out in 2014, the overall percentage of smokers was 26.1 percent, including 43.8pc of men and 8.4pc of women. Of those, nearly 80pc are daily smokers.

In August, 2014, the Myanmar Cigarette and Tobacco Products Consumption Controlling Central Committee took several decisions on packaging and branding tobacco products: Health warnings in pictures and text shall be printed on packets of tobacco products using 75pc of surface area, public opinion would be consulted on 10 pictures of health warnings, and advertising that would mislead the public about some kinds of tobacco products said to be “low-risk”, such as “low tar”, “light”, “ultra-light” or “mild”, would be banned.

In a survey conducted in September, 2014, in Pyinmana, Lewe and Tatkon townships in Naypyidaw Council area, more than 80 percent of people approved the use of pictures of oral cavity cancer for use as warnings of the dangers of tobacco on cigarette packets, the minister said. Other pictures would also be used.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/153136


-- Thai PBS 2016-03-02

[Tomtomtom69]

This is a good start as there are definitely too many smokers in Myanmar. If 43.8% of males smoke, that would be like most western countries in the 50s or 60s. Nowadays in Australia, only around 16% or so of males smoke, though as many females smoke as males (unlike in Myanmar).

I remember as recently as 2013 there was still cigarette advertising at a restaurant in Myawady, right next to the Friendship Bridge. While the poster may have been old, it shows the night and day attitudes towards smoking between Thailand and Myanmar. For me it was really weird seeing such advertising; the last time I remember seeing something similar was tobacco advertising in magazines in some European countries in the mid-1990s, before bans on tobacco advertising were enacted to cover all forms of media.

Perhaps this new law will now change things.

On the other hand, most new western style restaurants/cafes in Yangon ban smoking and it's only the more local, semi-open air places where lots of men are seen smoking, especially the so-called teashops. Even so, in my experience if you're worried about the effects of passive smoking, it's far worse in China, even if the percentage of smokers there is reportedly not much different from Myanmar (and decreasing too).

[imaderbyfan]

they will still be gobbing out that awful red stuff.

[gigman]

It's all bull...t ...

Do you believe your government care about you and your smoking ....

For those still believe in it ....

ask yourself ; why if this subject is so bad for society does not close all tobacco factories ???

And maybe it is something bigger they do not want you to focus on ??? very big and huge when comes to responsibility for so many weird diseases never has been here on this world before....

And what if all this mess comes from unhealthy and modified food we should start to be looking for causes...

Just imagine if we could start asking serious questions and demand compensations ....????? from those who are really killing us

That's why some smart ones came with this idea of focusing us on smoking ..... Unfortunately more people are naive and affraid of asking questions this days

I do not blame many on this world because we do not have time or ability to use own brain and ask questions...more inconvenient for those who just want's us to watch media and believe in everything they say......

Anyway , are they really wants you to live longer ....

Every government in the world is starting having huge problem with retirement payments...

Stop and use your own brain but anyway it is to late to change anything in this world of lies .

Regards from non smoker

[bark]

This is a good start as there are definitely too many smokers in Myanmar. If 43.8% of males smoke, that would be like most western countries in the 50s or 60s. Nowadays in Australia, only around 16% or so of males smoke, though as many females smoke as males (unlike in Myanmar).

I remember as recently as 2013 there was still cigarette advertising at a restaurant in Myawady, right next to the Friendship Bridge. While the poster may have been old, it shows the night and day attitudes towards smoking between Thailand and Myanmar. For me it was really weird seeing such advertising; the last time I remember seeing something similar was tobacco advertising in magazines in some European countries in the mid-1990s, before bans on tobacco advertising were enacted to cover all forms of media.

Perhaps this new law will now change things.

On the other hand, most new western style restaurants/cafes in Yangon ban smoking and it's only the more local, semi-open air places where lots of men are seen smoking, especially the so-called teashops. Even so, in my experience if you're worried about the effects of passive smoking, it's far worse in China, even if the percentage of smokers there is reportedly not much different from Myanmar (and decreasing too).

You must have, a lot of time on your hands, to look up all those percentages, and other exciting information.

[buythisdashcam]

I wonder how the cigarette brands can be so lame to fail bribing enough officials in poor countries ? How is it possible that they cannot avoid this kind of rules there ?

Look, Momsanto and Dow among others are powerful enough to keep killing people all over the world with their chemichals, even in US (but less in EU), so how possible that cigarettes brands are not able to do this ?

Just wondering how lobbying can fail when you are such a powerful company ?