Examining the Role of Tobacco Packaging in Fourteen Low and Middle Income Countries

Cerise Kleb, Thomas Jefferson University
Joanna Cohen, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

Description

• In many low and middle income countries, smoking rates remain high as smoking rates in the Western world are dropping.
• Many low and middle income countries are parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which provides guidelines on tobacco control legislation in order to discourage current smokers from smoking and to prevent new smokers from picking up the habit.
• The FCTC has multiple guidelines designed to make tobacco a less desirable product.
• Despite these stringent guidelines, tobacco companies around the world have continued to appeal to consumers in low and middle income countries through an avenue not adequately targeted in these guidelines: innovative and eye-catching tobacco packaging design.