Tobacco Products: NTCA Calls For Implementation Of Graphic Warnings

Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has called for the implementation of Graphic Health Warnings (GHW) on tobacco products, to reduce tobacco use and its associated harms.

NTCA chairman, Akinbode Oluwafemi, who made the call at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, said studies have shown that GHWs are more effective than text-only warnings in communicating the risks of tobacco use.

Decrying the increasing use of tobacco products, especially the use of shisha among young Nigerians, despite the serious health implications,  Akinbode said the warnings can reduce the economic burden of tobacco use by cutting the number of people who start smoking and encouraging current smokers to quit.

He said the first set of warnings, a contrast image of healthy lungs and diseased lungs of a smoker was issued on June 23, 2021, and expired on June 22, 2023, after a period of two years.

“It is now one month since the warnings expired, and as an alliance we alerted our members in the Federal Capital Territory, as well as Ebonyi, Kano and Lagos states to monitor compliance with the second phase of the warnings. It is shocking to reveal that compliance is at a flat 0 percent. This is totally unacceptable. The tobacco industry should not undermine the laws governing its business in Nigeria.

“The current approved warnings by the Federal Ministry of Health shows a graphic image of a tobacco user with mouth cancer, with the text warning ‘smoking causes mouth cancer’” he added.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Ministry of Health and all relevant agencies to ensure the speedy implementation of graphic health warnings on all tobacco products.

“This measure is contained in Article 11 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), and in our local laws. Section 20 of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015 (NTC Act) requires manufacturers, importers, and distributors of tobacco products to ensure that their products carry full coloured graphic health warnings, covering 50 percent of the principal display area, and that the approved graphic photo must clearly show the health implications of tobacco use and exposure.

“In providing guidelines for effective implementation of this policy, section 20 (3) of the NTC Act stipulates that graphic health warnings must be changed after an initial period no later than 24 months to new graphic warnings and messages prescribed by the Federal Ministry of Health. The law anticipated that the shock value of the warnings would begin to wane after two years, this is why the warnings are required to be rotated every two years,” he said.