The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #44502

Michele Bloch, MD, PhD¹, David E. Nelson, MD, MPH², K. Viswanath², Pascale M. Wortley, MD, MPH³, Catherine O. Maule⁴, Murray Kaiserman⁵, Cheryl A Moyer, MA⁴, Linda Pederson, PhD⁶, Donald Shopland⁷, Michelle Larkin, RN, MS⁸, Brian C Castrucci, BA⁹, and Nancy J. Kaufman, RN,, MS⁸. (1) Tobacco Control Research Branch, NCI, 6130 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-8584, blochm@mail.nih.gov, (2) Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd., Room 4068, MSC 7365, Bethesda, MD 20892-7365, (3) Office on Smoking and Health, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd, MS K-50, Atlanta, GA 30333, (4) Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M5J2S7, Canada, (5) Office of Research, Evaluation and Surveillance, Tobacco Control Programme, Pl 3507B, 123 Slater, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada, (6) Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, Mailstop K-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, (7) Consultant, Consultant, 7206 Peekskill Drive, Frederick, MD 21702, (8) The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Route 1 and College Road East, Princeton, NJ 08543, (9) Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, 23640 Walden Center Drive, Bonita Springs, FL 34134

The goal of this session is to compare the U.S. and Canadian experience with health warning messages on tobacco products. Health warning messages on cigarette packages are believed to be an efficient, effective and cost-effective way to reach smokers and potential smokers on a daily basis to provide information to promote quitting and deter initiation. As compared with the U.S., Canada has long had larger, more visible and more direct warning messages on cigarette and other tobacco packages. In June 2000, Canada enacted legislation requiring that tobacco products carry graphic health warning messages covering 50% of the packages' principal display surface, and health information inside the pack.

The session will begin with a paper that compares and contrasts the tobacco control "environment" in the U.S. and Canada. We will next compare knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards health warning messages between both countries, based on survey data taken prior to the implementation of new warning messages in Canada and, a few months later, in the United States. The next presentation will describe the six-month post-implementation survey data from Canada. Lastly, we will present qualitative information on U.S. smokers' attitudes towards health warning messages. A general discussion will follow.

Learning Objectives:

• To become familiar with similarities and differences between the U.S. and Canada, as regards measures of tobacco control and prevention; to understand the impact of the new Canadian health warning messages; to appreciate the potential effectiveness of strengthened health warning messages.

Keywords: Tobacco, Health Communications

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.