UK to introduce plain cigarette packaging in May in bid to drive down smoking

Plain packaging for cigarette packs will be formally introduced in the UK from 21 May, though it had been around for most of the last year.

Thanks to legal clampdowns on tobacco advertising and sponsorship manufacturers focused on making  packets as appealing as possible.

According to other data reviewed by the researchers, plain packaging prompted a 4-per cent increase in attempts to quit, and made it less likely that non-smokers would choose to start.

Though standardised packaging for cigarettes was first introduced in the UK in May last year, tobacco companies were barred from producing branded packs, though, they were still allowed to sell off existing stock.

From 21 May 2017, fancy, colourful, unique branding on cigarette packets will have to go. It would be replaced by olive green boxes, with larger health warnings, and brand names written in the same size and font, regardless of make.

Cochrane Review, published by independent health research organisation Cochrane, and led by researchers from London and Oxford, estimated that the number of people who smoked in the UK could go down by 0.5 per cent by May 2018, although they said the current evidence was limited.

The findings were backed up by a report from the Australian government, which showed a similar drop in smoking prevalence - 0.55 per cent after plain packaging was introduced there in 2012.

According to professor Ann McNeill, lead review author from King's College London, there was evidence that standardised packaging made people less likely to be motivated to smoke and reduced craving for tobacco.