Chioma Obinna
2 June 2009
JUST as the World Health Organization (WHO) last week urged governments to require that all tobacco packages include pictorial warnings to show the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use, a call has been made to the members of the National Assembly to urgently pass the new tobacco bill standing before the senate with a view to persuade tobacco companies in Nigeria to start putting pictorial and graphical health warnings on their packages as it is done in other countries of the world.Making this call at a seminar organised by the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) on the 2009 World No Tobacco Day in Lagos, President of NHF, Engr. Oluyomi Adeyemi-Wilson regretted that tobacco companies in Nigeria have not been putting pictorial and graphical health warnings on their packages as it is done in countries like Canada, India, Singapore amongst others.
Stating that the theme of this year's celebration was "Tobacco Health Warnings," he explained that health warnings on tobacco product packaging are critical to any effective tobacco control strategy.
He affirmed that increase public awareness of the serious health risks of tobacco use would help ensure that packaging tells the truth about the deadly product within.
Insisting that health warnings are necessary on the packages, Adeyemi-Wilson noted that warnings that use pictures or graphics in addition to the text have been shown to be particularly effective in communicating risk and motivating behaviourial change.
Also in his remarks, the Chairman Organizing Committee, of this year's World No Tobacco Day, Mr. Dapo Rotifa recalled that Article 11 of the World health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control commits more than 160 parties of which Nigeria is one, also required that tobacco products carry health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use.
Rotifa added that the guidelines to Article 11 that were adopted in 2008 by the conference of the parties to the international treaty stipulate that the health warnings should appear on both the front and the back of the package, be large and clear and describe specific illnesses caused by tobacco.
Lamenting that most tobacco products in Nigeria provide little or no information to warn consumers of the risks stated that the reality is reflected in the lack of appreciation of te health risks of tobacco use among the general public.
"Tobacco packaging health warnings that include images are a particularly powerful and cost - effective vehicles for communicating health risks. Pictorial warnings are critical in communicating health risks to te large number of people worldwide who cannot read. Pictorial warnings make tobacco packaging unattractive and thus act as a deterrent to new users, who are often young and brand - conscious. The cost to the government is also minimal as the costs of packaging are borne by the tobacco companies."
Collaborating the views of the president of NHF, Rotifa further admitted that picture - based health warnings on tobacco packages have been found to work in countries that require their use.
Citing countries like Canada, he disclosed that 58 percent of smokers in Canada admitted that warnings made them think more about the health effects of smoking while 67 percent of smokers in Brazil said the warnings made them want to quit and 54 percent said they made them to change their opinion about the health consequences of smoking.
Other countries, he mentioned is Singapore, 28 percent smokers said the warnings made them smoke fewer cigarettes and one out of six smokers said they avoided smoking in front of children as a result of the warnings.
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