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Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels in Malaysia

By Alex in Medicine on Nov 30, 2009 at 1:05 pm


Forget the namby-pamby cigarette warning label we have here in the United States. Here's a very graphic warning label from cartons of Malaysian clove cigarettes.

Alas, even these warning labels do not have much effect on smokers. From World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Western Pacific's smoking statistics:

- About half of all Malaysian men smoke.
- Every day about 50 teenagers below the age of 18 start smoking
- Studies show about 30% of adolescent boys (aged 12 to 18) smoke.
- Smoking among female teens is rising. According to two studies on teens conducted in 1996 and 1999, the numbers of female teens smoking rose from 4.8% to 8%. Overall, the 1999 study found nearly one in five teens smokes.
- Some studies have shown that lung cancer is rising at a rate of 17% a year.
- Although there are restrictions on advertising, tobacco companies have found ways to bypass these laws through using brand names and remain the top advertisers. Heavily advertised products include the Benson and Hedges bistro, Dunhill accessories, Marlboro clothing, Kent Horizon Tours and Salem Cool Planet concerts.
- Malaysia has been dubbed the "indirect advertising capital" of the world. Some of the tobacco industry's most blatant efforts to target young people can be seen here.
- Spending on tobacco advertising is extremely high. In 1997, the industry spent about $90 million, while in the year 2000, two tobacco firms alone reportedly spent more than US$40 million.

TYWKIWDBI has the larger pic: Link (as you'd imagine, the pictures are quite graphic - you've been warned)


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COMMENT
  1. Babycakes
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    It'd be helpful here in the US... people still deny that cigarettes kill.

  2. Nathan B.
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Canada's warning labels are also pretty graphic.

  3. Astromoof
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    Australias cigarette packets are similar (and so are the anti smoking commercials on television)

  4. ByrdBrain
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    That picture of the nasty foot. What is the connection? "This is what your foot will look like if you drop a cig on it and let it burn for a while" or "the surgeon general warns against using your toes to hold cigarettes"?

  5. Andrea A
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    I still love the warnings on packs in France. Some basically said: Smoking will cause a slow and painful death! Classic.

  6. Andrea A
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    @ ByrdBrain- Yes. Someone once burned my leg with a ciagrette and it sucked. They should include that with second-hand smoking.

  7. Dr. Lao
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    How about putting graphic warning labels on junk food? Obesity is the #1 killer in the U.S. Smoking is 2nd. And start taxing it like cigarettes -- 10 bucks for a small bag of potato chips should be about right...

  8. Khendar
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    @ByrdBrain Its called Peripheral Vascular Disease. Smoking can cause blockages in the major arteries to the extremities which can result in gangrene.

  9. pwscott
    Nov 30th, 2009 at 8:57 pm

    I've heard about a lot of cancer deaths in Malay. When I visited there smoking was everywhere. Of course being a smoker myself I wasn't bothered by it. I did notice that everyone smoked about ten times as much as I did. Ads like those may make a younger generation aware if they don't all get hooked on second hand smoke. :l

  10. jeast
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 12:37 am

    They have the same warning images on cigarette packages here in Australia. Actually I was a little surprised when I found out more countries don't do this. Although they really don't effect people much, I've seen them so much I barely even notice them anymore.

  11. Lydia Chua
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 2:42 am

    @jeast, I agree with you - it does not affect people much anyway.
    we have the exact same graphic illustrations on TV advertisements and printed on all our ciggeratte packs here in Singapore + the cost of a pack of ciggies is priced high (around the cost of 3 big macs in Sporeland) to deter smoking.
    despite all these, ciggarettes are still being lit up everyday, increasing number of young ones are picking up the smoke. if anything, it has effectively turned us into a nation of evolved graphic-visual immunity (whatever that means :p)

  12. jacinta
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 4:04 am

    i was in malaysia and bought several packs of marlboro for friends. we were so disturbed by the pictures that one friend actually decided to stop smoking. but maybe that's because the warnings aren't that graphic elsewhere.

    anyway, fyi the ciggies in the picture is indonesian made. i was surprised to know that they actually export that brand to malaysia.

  13. calo
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 4:12 am

    been like this for ages in the UK now, nothing new tbh - nothing changes cause of the pictures either.

    People laugh at them in the pubs and compair to see "who has the worst"

  14. zuwairiaiman
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 10:27 pm

    Thanks for the info and thoughtful knowledge you share. It hits me hard on my face to read all the statistic you gave and how awful people are getting towards smoking attitude.

    I'm hopping to see no more smoke in the future

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