Table 1

Description of health warning labels on smokeless tobacco (SLT) packaging in India from 2009 to 2016

Date of policy changeHWLs from May 2009HWLs from December 2011HWLs from April 2016
Summary of policy changeFirst HWLs mandated:
Symbolic image must cover at least 40% of the front of SLT tobacco packaging		Change to a pictorial HWL:
Pictorial image must cover at least 40% of the front of SLT tobacco packaging		Increase in size of a pictorial HWL:
Pictorial image must cover at least 85% of the front and back of SLT tobacco packaging. Warnings must be at least 3.5 cm in width and 4 cm in height.
Example imageEmbedded ImageEmbedded ImageEmbedded Image
Wave when HWL’s effectiveness was measuredWave 1: August 2010–October 2011Wave 2: October 2012–September 2013Wave 3: July 2018–July 2019

  • HWLs, Health Warning Labels.