Pictures of dead babies, throat cancer and rotten teeth are likely to appear on cigarette packets next month.
Yesterday the Health ministry said the graphic warnings on the dangers of smoking, including of punctured throats and cancerous lungs, will be printed on all cigarette packs.
The Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014, require both pictorial and text health warnings printed on the packets.
Also known as plain packaging, the move aims at dissuading current and potential smokers by giving them information on the harmful effects of nicotine and tar.
Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko (pictured) said the Tobacco Control Unit will engage stakeholders to standardise the cigarette packets to include graphics. He spoke at the launch of the “Global Adult Tobacco Survey - Country Report 2014”. If Kenya adopts the plain packaging recommendation by WHO, more than half of the front and back of all cigarette packs will have health warnings, while the brand name will be restricted to a standard size, font and colour. “Sixty per cent of current smokers thought of quitting because of health warning labels on cigarette packaging. We believe this will dissuade even the youth from engaging in smoking early,” Kioko said.
He added that taxes on tobacco products should be increased to make them unaffordable and reduce the disease burden due to use and exposure of tobacco smoke. “In the survey we found out that 80 per cent of Kenyans favoured increasing taxes on tobacco products. I therefore urge Treasury to raise the tax on tobacco products,” Kioko said.
The survey was conducted in 2014 in 5,376 households of people aged 15 years and above.