Billboard advertising of tobacco was banned in the UK in 2003.
And in 2007, smoking in public places was prohibited to protect people from the dangers of second hand smoking.
This was found to be 'highly effective', with an 'immediate' reduction in the number of children being hospitalised for asthma, according to the department of health.
Off the back of this success, the Government extended this legislation to cover private vehicles carrying children from October 2015.
In 2016, the Government set out to tackle access to cheap tobacco, which included increasing the tax on hand-rolling tobacco by an additional three per cent.
The same year saw the introduction of the Tobacco Products Directive in the UK.
Among other things, this enforced minimum sized health warnings on cigarette packaging.
Plain packaging was also introduced, which removed all promotional materials from the label, such as two-for-one deals.
It also ensured the brand name was presented in a standardised way, with the same font, size and case text.
Manufacturers were also told all tobacco packets had to be an olive-green colour.
The drab brown hue was selected due to it being the shade that most puts off buyers, research has shown.
Australia introduced similar measures in 2012 and saw the number of people taking up smoking fall by 0.5 per cent by 2016.
If the same decline were to occur in the UK, Cancer Research UK estimated it would equate to 257,000 fewer smokers.
The legislation also required packets to contain a minimum of 20 cigarettes, with ten packs being phased out.
This was to ensure the pack is large enough to contain health warnings that cover 65 per cent of the front and back.
The health warning also has to appear in photo and text form.
And there must be an information message on the side, such as 'tobacco smoke contains over 70 substances known to cause cancer'.
In 2017 new legislation made it illegal to sell branded cigarettes in the UK.
A complete ban on menthol-flavoured cigarettes is set for May 2020, with other tastes already being prohibited, such as fruit and vanilla.
| Chinese Association on Tobacco Control Copyright © 1992-2011 906-907 Anhuidongli, Chaoyang District Beijing 100101 |