From November 1st, 2018, all tobacco products will bear pictorial warnings on both sides. This announcement was made by Ghana's Food and Drugs Authority C.E.O, Mrs. Delese Darko. The introduction of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs is in line with the fulfillment of section 10 of Ghana's Tobacco Control Regulations, 2016 (L. I. 2247) and also seeks to fulfill their obligation as a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).
Ghana's tobacco control organization VALD expressed gratitude to the FDA for keeping to its commitment to introducing the pictorial warnings on Ghana’s cigarette packs. Ghana joins a list of other African countries that have introduced pictorial warnings in an attempt to portray the dangers of smoking to current and potential smokers.
The timeline for the implementation of the pictorial warnings, as approved at a tobacco control stakeholders meeting in 2017, indicated that by October 1, 2018, the tobacco industry must discontinue the sale of old tobacco products without approved graphic or pictorial warnings.
Ghana began the implementation of text-only warning on cigarette packs in early 2010. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey shows a downward trend in smoking among junior high school (JHS) students; 3.6 percent smoked a cigarette in 2009 while 2.8 percent smoked same in 2017.
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