Health advocates hail review of laws to avert tobacco-related deaths
By George.Kebaso, March 21, 2024Health advocates have voiced their support for strengthened tobacco control measures as the process of reviewing the Tobacco Control Act, 2007 and Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014 gets underway in Naivasha.
This, the advocates said, is in a unified effort to stop the 9,000 deaths linked to tobacco consumption yearly, and the growing incidences of diseases linked to it; such as cancer, diabetes and heart diseases.
In a press conference yesterday, the advocates said the ongoing review – which brings together Ministry of Health officials, civil society organisations and multilateral partners such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), is important to present a law that will curb illicit narcotic drugs.
They called on the team congregating in Naivasha not to entertain any inputs from the tobacco industry.
“In 2007, the tobacco industry bragged how they facilitated making of the Tobacco Control law, by taking MPs to Mombasa. But today we are saying they are not stakeholders, and we do not want them.
“We are therefore calling on the tobacco control champions reviewing this law, not to allow BAT and affiliated players to go near the document,” Thomas Lindi, the National Coordinator, Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance said.
Advocates actually warned the tobacco industry from setting foot at the venue of the ongoing review, accusing it of influencing the review of the law which made cigarettes to be categorised into two-tier system.
“Curbing tobacco use has failed principally because of the current tax system, where with the changes in the law, currently Kenya has a two-tier system of taxing tobacco which is based on filters and non-filter cigarettes,” said John Thomi, National Taxpayers Association Project Officer.
He explained that this resulted in the manufacturing and sale of two-tier Sh2,630 per mille for cigarettes with filters and Sh1, 893 per mille for plain cigarettes. Evidence by WHO shows taxing tobacco products is the most effective way to reduce consumption, thus reducing cancer, diabetes and heart disease.