Warning on cigarette packs to turn graphic
A smoker blowing plumes of smoke at a smoking zone at Uhuru Park, Nairobi. Cigarette makers will from June 2015 publish graphic warning labels on packets as the ministry of Health starts implementing a fresh set of rules. PHOTO | STEPHEN MUDIARI |
What you need to know:
- The pictures would show a smoker lying in a coffin. Others will show diseased lungs as well as a cancerous mouth. They will be on the front of the packet, so that a smoker can see them before they pull out a stick and light up.
- With the new rules, which will be considered by the Committee on Delegated Legislation, Kenya will join other countries such as Egypt, where cigarette packets contain graphic images meant to discourage smoking.
Cigarette makers will from June 2015 publish graphic warning labels on packets as the ministry of Health starts implementing a fresh set of rules.
In regulations submitted to Parliament, Health Cabinet secretary James Macharia said, “a picture or pictogram... shall be in full colour with contrasting colours for the background in a manner that maximises noticeability and legibility of elements of health warnings.”
The pictures would show a smoker lying in a coffin. Others will show diseased lungs as well as a cancerous mouth. They will be on the front of the packet, so that a smoker can see them before they pull out a stick and light up.
Companies will bear the cost of ensuring that the images are rotated on the packets after a certain period.
Currently, cigarette packets contain a health warning in both English and Kiswahili. The warning that sale of tobacco to minors is prohibited and punishable under the law will now be complemented by gruesome graphic images.
DISCOURAGING SMOKING
With the new rules, which will be considered by the Committee on Delegated Legislation, Kenya will join other countries such as Egypt, where cigarette packets contain graphic images meant to discourage smoking.
Kenya has been implementing Tobacco Control Act since its enactment in 2007. The Act saw smokers pushed from streets in cities to designated zones set up by local authorities.
Bars and restaurants were also required to set up smoking zones and to prominently display warning signs in no-smoking areas.
Under the new rules, however, smoking in private vehicles with children on board is banned. The rules also control the manner in which the tobacco industry interacts with public officers.
They state that interactions between public officers, such as MPs, “shall be limited to the extent strictly necessary for effective tobacco control and enforcement of relevant laws.”
