Awareness and Perceptions on Health Warning Labels on Cigarette Packs among Smokers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Backgrounds. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of premature deaths. Tobacco control remains a top priority, and health warning labels (HWLs) are one of the recommended methods. This study is aimed at examining the awareness and perceptions of HWLs on cigarette packs among smokers. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 240 smokers who were randomly recruited from three townships in Mandalay in 2018. A face-to-face interview was done using a questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse the data. Results. About half were 18-40 years old; the majority were males (96.3%) and smokers (93.4%). Nearly all respondents noticed both pictorial warning and text messages, and about half could identify the current size of HWLs. Most of the smokers generally had positive perceptions and opinions on HWLS, and they strongly supported it. About 75% intended to reduce the number of cigarettes, and 18% were willing to quit within 6 months. Those who desired to reduce the number of cigarettes were more likely to quit within 6 months (aOR=7.6, 95% CI 1.6-35.9 and aOR=19.6, 95% CI 13.0-294.7 for those who had a little and strong desire, respectively). Conclusion. Awareness status and perceptions of the respondents were acceptable, and HWLs have motivated smokers to quit smoking. The Tobacco Control Program needs to strengthen the tobacco control law that prohibits selling loosies in order to maximize the benefits of HWLs.

Demographic characteristics associated with awareness of cigarette health warnings and thinking about quitting among current adult cigarette smokers in Zambia, 2017

“…Several studies from developed countries such as the USA, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have reported that large text and pictorial health warnings are associated with an increased likelihood of quitting as opposed to single text- only warnings, regardless of the age or education of those who smoke 13,16,18,19,21,38,[43][44][45] . Another study showed that while effectiveness of health warnings on cigarette packages varied, pictorial warnings with personal testimonials were the most effective across more than 100 countries 41 .…”

“…Health warning labels on cigarette packages serve as one of the primary means of communicating the harmful effects of cigarette smoking 12,13 . Awareness of the health harms of cigarette smoking has been associated with increased thinking about quitting and quit attempts among people who smoke 13 .…”

“…Health warning labels on cigarette packages serve as one of the primary means of communicating the harmful effects of cigarette smoking 12,13 . Awareness of the health harms of cigarette smoking has been associated with increased thinking about quitting and quit attempts among people who smoke 13 . Some countries in the African region such as Uganda and Mauritius are addressing the tobacco epidemic by strengthening implementation of the WHO FCTC; in particular, introducing pictorial health warnings covering more than 65% of tobacco product packaging 14,15 .…”

“…Some countries in the African region such as Uganda and Mauritius are addressing the tobacco epidemic by strengthening implementation of the WHO FCTC; in particular, introducing pictorial health warnings covering more than 65% of tobacco product packaging 14,15 . Several studies that assessed the impact of health warnings concluded that pictorial health warnings were more effective than singletext warnings in achieving increased awareness and knowledge of tobacco harms, encouraging thinking about quitting among people who currently smoke, and preventing smoking initiation among people who do not smoke 13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] .…”