Russia on Monday unveiled a series of graphic
images, including of a gangrenous foot and a
still-born baby, that will be printed on
cigarette packs as the country tries to trim its
sky-high rates of smoking.
The health ministry published photographs on
its website for use by cigarette companies,
which will be obliged to print them on cigarette
packs from May next year as Russia tightens
its laws towards a Western-style crackdown on
smoking.
The pictures show a blue-tinted image of a
dead baby and a graphic image of a blackened
gangrenous foot, as well as more figurative
images such as a woman's hand making a
"thumbs-down" gesture to represent impotency.
"Global experience shows that shocking
pictures on cigarette packs significantly
influenced changes in perception of smoking by
smokers themselves," the ministry said.
The average Russian smoker consumes 17
cigarettes per day, with men smoking an
average of 18 cigarettes and women 13, the
health ministry said, citing the World Health
Organisation's Global Adult Tobacco Survey
statistics.
The survey published in 2009 found that 39.1
percent of Russians smoked, which the WHO
said was one of the world's highest rates of
tobacco use.
Deputy health minister Sergei Velmyaikin
estimated that Russia lost almost 1.5 trillion
rubles ($46 billion) per year from tobacco-
related deaths among people of working age,
the Interfax news agency reported.
The WHO said that graphic warnings on packs
would be a "major step forward in The Russian
Federation to be compliant with the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control."
Russia two years ago introduced large written
warnings of the health consequences of smoking
on packs, following Western practice.
On Friday, the health ministry submitted a
draft bill to lawmakers that would introduce
Western-style smoking bans in restaurants
from 2014 in a country where non-smoking
areas are still usually a token gesture.