Describing cautionary photos recently put on cigarette packets as "offensive," Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court on Saturday mandated health minister Hatem al-Gabali remove the photos.
Egypt's Ministry of Health commits tobacco producers to include a photo of a sloping cigarette on the packets, with a warning against the negative impacts of smoking on sexual relationships.
The court labeled the photos at odds with religious, moral, and social principles.
But a researcher at the ministry-run Egyptian Smoking Prevention Research Institute, Mohamed Moustafa, said the photos posted on cigarette packets are chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO), which he said chooses images that can best effect change.
Moustafa argues the image fails to carry sexual implications beyond the scientifically proven impact of cigarettes on sexual efficacy.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
