Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Graphic pictures deter smoking, study shows
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Graphic pictures of smoking-related cancer on cigarette boxes deter smoking, Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday.
Canada, Brazil, and Singapore have proven that the policy actually reduced the smoking rate in every demographic by 2-5 percent since it first introduced the approach against smoking, according to WHO report.
Korea is also bound by a treaty to fight tobacco epidemic, which is Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of World Health Organization (WTO).
FCTC code 11 dictates that every cigarette box be covered with a clear warning of smoking.
Also the size of the note should be larger than 50 percent that of the whole package.
Pictures rather than words are recommended to strengthen the deterrence effect, according to the FCTC.
Korea, however, falls far behind by the international standard.
The warning is written, which is far less effective than photos, and only 30 percent of the total package is assigned.
Ministry of Strategy and Finance is known to disagree with the proposed amendment.
The tobacco business might be harmed, it worried, according to a media report.
The ministry also is reluctant to putting a picture on the package, it added.
Radical approach, however, might be the key to reducing the smoking rate, said an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
“More than 60 countries implemented the approach, and it turned out to be quite successful.”
Raising the price of the cigarette caused such uproar among the smokers a few months ago.
If the non-price-related policy hits another roadblock, the whole attempt will be in vain, she added.
Public health as well as economy should be the high atop on the national agenda, another researcher said.
“Korea is a world player in global economic stage. The regulation against the tobacco industry is unbecoming of such title,” said Lee Sung-kyu, a researcher in tobacco Research & Education Center.
“We were one of the countries bound by the FCTC Treaty. But after eight years, nothing’s changed,” he added.