Cigarette packs could soon include advice on how to quit smoking

The government hopes to reduce smoking rates in the UK to 5% or less of the population by 2030. Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP PHOTO / ASH (UK)

Plain packaging, graphic images of lung disease and warnings that smoking causes cancer already adorn cigarette boxes. But now smokers in the UK could also be given an upbeat note with every pack in an attempt to help them quit.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that it is opening a consultation on Monday to seek views on the introduction and design of pack inserts for tobacco products, such as cigarettes and rolling tobacco.