Graphic images are to appear on cigarette packets in Ireland from today, in a move which the government hopes will decrease the number of smokers in the country.
From rotting teeth to a child trying to breathe through an apparatus, the shocking images all depict the negative health impacts with smoking.
Similar packaging has also been introduced in Canada and Australia. In Canada, research by the World Health Organisation showed that the packets resulted in a fourfold increase in the number of smokers who intended to quit smoking.
The WHO also found that a change in packaging in Brazil resulted in 56 per cent of people becoming more aware of the health consequences of smoking.
Another of the images includes a patient in surgery.
In Ireland, one in two of all long-term smokers will die from smoking related diseases.
Health Minister Reilly said the changes in packaging would be worth it if it made people realise “how smoking impacts them and their families.”
Tobacco products that were placed on the market before today are allowed to remain on sale until this day next year. All new products, however, must carry the images.
