A new study has found preliminary evidence that plain packaging and enhanced pictorial warnings on cigarette packs introduced in 2018 reduced tobacco brand awareness and salience and misperceptions about tobacco brand harmfulness among 14-15 year olds in Aotearoa. The paper was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health and reported an analysis of data from the Health Promotion Agency's Youth Insights Surveys collected 2 years before and immediately after the measures were introduced. Lead author Richard Edwards commented that the findings complement previous evidence documenting the impact of plain packaging and pictorial warnings on adolescents, but further studies with longer follow-up are needed to provide more definitive evidence of the impact of these interventions.
The article is available here.