Irish Medical Organisation

IMO welcomes new tobacco measures

IMO welcomes new tobacco measures

Wednesday 29th March 2017.  The Irish Medical Organisation has welcomed confirmation by Minister for Health Simon Harris that tobacco packaging is to be made less appealing to consumers in the coming months.  Today the commencement order for the standardised packaging provisions of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015 is to be signed.

The IMO has been advocating for many years that all steps must be taken to reduce tobacco consumption. Under the new measures all forms of branding (trademarks, logos, colours and graphics) are to be removed from tobacco packs, all packs will be in one plain neutral colour and brand names will be presented in uniform typeface for all brands.

Speaking today the President of the IMO, Dr. John Duddy, said that the new measures were an important step in the ongoing battle against smoking; “the tobacco industry has invested billions of euro promoting tobacco in general and the respective brands of the major manufacturers in particular. These measures send the message that there is nothing appealing or attractive about tobacco, or the brands that dominate the industry."

Dr. Duddy commended the various steps made by successive Governments in Ireland to reduce the attractiveness, appeal and availability of tobacco products; “Ireland should be proud of the role it has played in taking on the global tobacco industry.  However this war is far from over and as many as 6,000 deaths in Ireland each year are still attributable to tobacco with untold misery for families and friends of each of these victims and billions of euro spent on healthcare resources to treat tobacco related illness.”

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