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“Big tobacco can be taken on and beaten,” say Australian officials

BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e5579 (Published 16 August 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e5579
  1. Melissa Sweet
  1. 1Sydney

Tobacco companies have failed in a critical legal challenge to Australia’s pioneering introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes, in a development described as “the worst defeat yet for Big Tobacco.”

The World Health Organization and public health leaders predict that other countries will be encouraged to also mandate plain packaging.

The WHO director general, Margaret Chan, has urged the rest of the world “to follow Australia’s tough stance on tobacco marketing.”

She said in a statement: “With Australia’s victory, public health enters a brave new world of tobacco control. With so many countries lined up to ride on Australia’s coat tails, what we hope to see is a domino …

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