Tobacco Industry Fingerprints on Delaying Implementation of Pictorial Health Warnings in the Western Pacific.

Objective: This case series describes tobacco industry tactics and strategies used to interfere, derail, delay, and weaken the development of effective health warning regulations in Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.

Methods: A historical review of official reports, news articles, and gray literature was undertaken to identify tobacco industry tactics and strategies to hamper government efforts in implementing stronger pictorial health warning regulations in four Asian jurisdictions (Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines).

Results: Nineteen countries/jurisdictions in the WHO Western Pacific region currently require pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs, including some of the world's largest, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 11 Guidelines.