The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is on the right track when it announced that cigarette warnings will be introduced this year on all cigarette packs.

The labels - graphic and text - are an effort by the government to discourage tobacco use by bringing Chinese smokers face to face with the reality of tobacco-related diseases.

The new move makes the country compliant with the World Health Organization's global treaty on tobacco, which stipulates that 35 percent of a cigarette packs must have warnings and pictures.

At least 39 countries have such warnings and many more are in the process of implementing them.

There is scientific evidence from countries that already use such labels that they help reduce the number of people smoking.

Brazil's anti-smoking images, introduced in 2002, have been called the scariest in the world. The third set, introduced in 2009, include a gangrenous foot and what appears to be a fetus in an ashtray. They cover the entire front or back of a pack.

Brazil's warnings are working. Smoking rates in Brazil fell by more than 50 percent from 1989 to 2006, from 34.8 percent of the population to 16 percent.

The evidence is clear: packaging helps attract smokers. So it makes sense to make it less attractive.

Around 50 percent of China's 300 million smokers will die from smoking-related causes. So it is right to use warnings with disturbing photos to deter smokers from lighting up. Warning labels on cigarette packs can serve as a potentially powerful opportunity to educate and inform people about the risks of smoking.

As early as 2006 the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration required that all cigarette packages carry standard text warnings. In the past three years these warning messages have been moved from the back to the front of cigarette packages and cover 30 percent. But the messages are too weak to make people quit. They are like wallpaper.

Smoking is a battlefield where health officials and the tobacco producers are fierce rivals. The former persuades people to quit, while the latter seeks to continually recruit new smokers.

Health officials are responsible for providing current and potential smokers with clear and truthful information about the risks of smoking.

The resilient tobacco industry produces more than 100 billion packs of cigarettes every year, making sure cigarettes are available at as many locations as possible.

Compared with countries that are leading the fight against smoking, China still has a long way to go.

The new labels the MIIT proposes should be frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking.

(China Daily 08/01/2011 page8)