South Africa is in "desperate" need of a new set of effective health warnings on tobacco packaging, the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) said on Friday.

In a message ahead of Sunday's World No Tobacco Day, it said the current print-only health warnings on tobacco had grown stale.

"They have remained unchanged for 12 years," NCAS director Yussuf Saloojee said.

"It is a wonder anybody notices them. There is a desperate need for a new set of effective and convincing warnings."

Saloojee said government was expected to publish new regulations on picture-based warnings later this year.

It should not delay doing this, as delay spelled death.

"With 44 000 South Africans dying from diseases caused by tobacco use every year, the death toll is already too high," he said.

The warnings could include photographs of blackened lungs, rotten teeth, and foetuses in bottles, the product of tobacco-induced abortions.

"It's not about scaring people. It's the reality of what tobacco does to people."

Saloojee said a smoker's decision to quit or continue smoking was heavily influenced by his or her understanding of the dangers.

The most powerful way to educate smokers was to put pictures illustrating the risks on a cigarette packet or tobacco package.