The graphic images featuring gangrenous toes and dying patients portrayed on cigarette packet need to be changed regularly to maintain their impact as a deterrent to smoking, public health researchers warn.
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One of the graphic health warnings mandated in Australia since December 2012.
A new survey of thousands of Australians reveals the public’s limited awareness of many serious harms of tobacco, write Professor Melanie Wakefield and colleagues in a research letter published in the MJA.
They surveyed 1806 adults on their perception of the likelihood that smoking increased the risk of developing 23 different health conditions, finding less than two thirds linking smoking to six types of cancer.
The majority of participants considered smoking was “likely” or “very likely” to raise the risk of lung cancer, throat cancer and mouth cancer (91%, 89%, 88% of participants respectively).
However just 27% made the link for rheumatoid arthritis and 31% made the connection for acute leukaemia.
There were only nine health conditions for which two thirds or more of survey participants considered smoking a likely risk factor.