Canada will start putting health warnings on individual cigarettes. It will be the first country to do so

"Tobacco smoke harms children." "Cigarettes cause leukemia." "Poison in every puff."

Those are among the messages that will soon appear - in English and French - on cigarettes in Canada. The country announced Wednesday it will require health warnings to be printed directly on every individual cigarette - the first country in the world to do so.

"The new Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations will be part of the Government of Canada's continued efforts to help adults who smoke to quit, to protect youth and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction, and to further reduce the appeal of tobacco," Canadian health officials said in a news release.

The labels on individual cigarettes will make it "virtually impossible" for smokers to avoid warnings, health officials said.

The new requirement is a "world precedent-setting measure that will reach every person who smokes with every puff," said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society.

The regulation is part of the country's goal to drop its nationwide tobacco use to less than 5% by 2035.

It will be accompanied by other measures aimed at reducing the number of smokers in the country, including the strengthening of health messages on tobacco product packages, health officials said.