Starting Tuesday August 1st, smokers will see new warning labels printed on individual cigarettes.

The move by Health Canada makes this country the first to take that step.

Rob Cunningham is senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.

He says it’s hoped the individual warnings will encourage more people to quit and deter potential smokers from picking up the habit.

“It’s going to reach every smoker with every cigarette, every puff, in every community in the country,” Cunningham explained, “For you to experiment by quote unquote borrowing cigarettes from a friend, it’s going to mean that they will see the cigarette, even when they may not see the package. It’s going to prompt discussion including by smokers during smoke breaks, asking what warning have you got?”

The wording on every cigarette, written in English and French, ranges from warnings about how cigarettes harm children, damage organs, cause impotence and leukemia.