Cigarette manufacturers risk prosecution if they do not adhere to the Tobacco Control Act that calls for pictorial warning messages on the cigarettes packs.

The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation says that the Act which obligates players to give both words and pictorial messages is in force.

The Chairman of the Tobacco Control Board Prof Peter Odhiambo said the deadline or compliance with the new law has run out.

"Pictorial messages will be more effective than just written words because we know that we have some cases in rural areas where some people cannot read. Tobacco health warnings are therefore strong defenses," he said.

Cigarette manufacturing companies had last year requested for an extension of 9 months in order to implement the requirement of having pictorial warning messages on the packets.

Kenya is among the countries that adopted and ratified guidelines to article 11 of the framework convention on tobacco control adopted in 2008 by the conference of parties to the international treaty.

Cigarette smoking is reported to be a leading cause of diseases like cancer, respiratory and heart diseases among other illnesses according to World health organization.

The WORLD NO TOBACCO Day created by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 will be marked this Sunday.

The theme of this year's day 'Tobacco Health Warning' is in line with what they call the tobacco crisis with studies indicating that Tobacco use is the second cause of death and is currently responsible for killing 1 in 10 adults worldwide.