It worked in Canada, Europe

Tobacco is the only consumer product that kills when used as directed.

Tobacco kills 2,500 people every day. A picture of a corpse in a morgue on your cigarette pack will remind you of the fact every time you light up from February 1 next year.

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This is one of the four health warnings approved by the health ministry to dissuade people from using tobacco.

"One million people in India die of tobacco-related diseases every year and themselves can be saved each year by discouraging people from getting addicted to tobacco and persuading users from quitting the habit," says health minister Anbumani ramadoss, recently back from the US after receiving an award on tobacco control from the American Cancer Society on behalf of his ministry.

More than the warnings, it's the pictures of the cancer tumours and the diseased lungs that make one’s stomach turn. "

Tobacco is the only consumer product that kills when used as directed -- even secondhand smoke can harm people around you and kill unborn children -- and the government wants people to realise the health risks for themselves and others around them when they start or continue smoking,' says Ramadoss.

Chewing tobacco is no safer: gutka-chewing has lead to the highest numbers of mouth cancers being reported from India.