Time to Quit: Australian health experts urge Hong Kong to adopt plain cigarette packaging
Experts say Hong Kong should follow Australia in imposing larger health warnings for smokers after move there led to plunge in tobacco sales
Australian public health experts have called on Hong Kong to follow their country's example by introducing tougher restrictions on cigarettes, including larger warnings and plain packaging.
Since Australia introduced plain packaging in 2012, sales of cigarettes have plunged and the number of smokers has dropped, as surveys show smoking becoming less attractive to consumers.
"Most smokers don't want to be smokers," said Professor Simon Chapman, of the University of Sydney School of Public Health. "Plain packaging is a constant reminder, every time you take it out, with those massive health warnings, about what the consequences of smoking are."
Hong Kong's Food and Health Bureau is campaigning for larger health warnings on cigarette packets, increasing the amount of space covered from 50 to 85 per cent.
The government already puts health warnings on packets and is planning to expand them, along with banning e-cigarettes.