PESHAWAR, Dec 17: In an effort to reduce smoking across the country, the government is considering amending the Non-Smokers’ Health Ordinance 2002 so that the text health warnings on cigarette packets may be replaced with pictorial warnings, according to sources.

“We are considering bringing amendment to the Non-Smokers’ Health Ordinance 2002 to replace the text warnings with images and pictures depicting the hazards of tobacco use,” they said.

The sources said the existing text health warning on 20 per cent of the cigarette packets had become part of the design and was no longer of much use. They said that throughout the world cigarette packets carried images or pictures of the people affected by the use of tobacco.

“The plan to amend the law has been triggered by the fact that the pictorial warnings have a marked impact regarding the hazardous effects of tobacco use.

“Studies have shown that text warnings have little impact on the users of tobacco as compared to the warnings with images,” they added.

Pakistan, being a signatory to the WHO’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) is under pressure to control tobacco advertising and to take measures to reduce the use of tobacco.

Cigarette manufacturers in Pakistan spend an estimated Rs60 million on advertisements annually.

Dr Javaid Khan of the Aga Khan University, Karachi, and convener of the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, told Dawn that the pictorial health warnings had been very successful in Canada.

“There has been more than 50 per cent reduction in use of tobacco, especially among children, in Canada. The horrifying pictures showing dangers of tobacco use can really make an impact,” he said.

He said the WHO had recommended that warnings with images should cover 30 to 50 per cent of the space on the cigarette packets. Dr Khan said the country had an estimated 30 million smokers. The number could be slashed through pictorial health warnings.

Official sources said that cigarette manufacturers in the country were extremely concerned about the government’s move to amend the law and introduce pictorial health warnings and added that the WHO’s pressure on the government had left them with no option but to introduce pictorial health warnings.