Continued progress in the fight against tobacco.

نویسنده

  • Gilles Paradis
چکیده

My previous editorial lamented the apparent decision by the federal government not to proceed with the introduction of new warning labels on cigarette packs. However, at the same time that the November-December issue of the Journal was coming off the presses at the printing house, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced December 30 th that current labels would indeed be replaced by larger and more graphic warnings. These warnings will cover 75% of the surface of every cigarette pack and will also include a quit line phone number and website address. The additional space will also allow better information on toxic substances and health messages for smokers each time they buy a pack. About ten years ago, Canada was the first country to introduce graphic warning labels on all cigarette packs. Since then, however, it has slowly been losing ground to other countries that followed its lead and then did Canada one better by introducing more prominent and explicit warnings. Advocates criticized the government's apparent decision last fall to emphasize the fight against contraband cigarettes at the expense of enhanced warning labels, particularly since it was reported that Health Canada had spent $4 million to develop the new labels. Although officials denied that the decision to move ahead with the new labels resulted from the outcry from the public health community, the final result is very positive for the health of all Canadians and we must congratulate the government for the initiative. While we will never know if the outcome would have been different without the pressure from critics, we must pause and think about the role of public health when confronting government decisions that have the potential to affect the health of the population, including several we have called attention to in the last year related to asbestos, the census and gun control. The major determinants of health and well-being have their origins in broad social and environmental conditions that transcend local and regional public health departments. Most intervention targets of greatest potential to improve these conditions involve policies enacted at some governmental level. Although many of us have not received any training in this field, healthy public policy is likely to become the most important area of public health action over the next several years, whether we work in local, regional or national organizations. The tremendous gap in our collective capacity in public policy is a threat to the …

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique

دوره 102 1  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2011