Pictorial Health Warnings (PHWs)
Since the World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) (Article 11) introduced minimum criteria on health warning labels for tobacco products, the evidence for pictorial health warnings has strengthened. These health warnings are a highly cost-effective intervention for governments, since the tobacco industry pays production costs and tax payers fund only policy development work and associated costs.
‘Well-designed health warnings and messages are part of a range of effective measures to communicate health risks and to reduce tobacco use. Evidence demonstrates that the effectiveness of health warnings and messages increases with their prominence.’ WHO/FCTC Guidelines
According to Article 11 of the WHO FCTC, parties are required to implement effective measures to warn against the harmful impact of tobacco use on all tobacco product packaging within three years of ratification of the convention. Effective warning labels should be large, clear, cover at least 50% of the total tobacco pack and consist of both text and graphic images. They should also be rotational on all tobacco product packaging. Other elements that enhance effectiveness include locating health warnings and messages on principal display areas, and at the top of these principal display areas; the use of color rather than just black and white; requiring that multiple health warnings and messages appear concurrently; and periodic revision of health warnings and messages.
The Centre for Tobacco Control is Africa ( CTCA) is supporting its target countries to implement this time bound obligation, starting with the Kenya government. The process is already under way. The Centre has also developed ‘A step by Step Guide to Developing Pictorial Health Warnings’. The tool is aimed at assisting governments and other stakeholders to put in place Pictorial Health messages on all tobacco products.