Public hearings have begun on controversial tobacco packaging regulations – The Standard Health

From today, the Ministry of Health will begin to receive public opinion about the controversial new graphic health warnings that cigarette manufacturers will be obliged to place on the packaging of nicotine products.

The public participation sessions will begin in Nyeri and Kisumu and will then be held in Embu and Kakamega. Similar meetings with citizens will be held across the country next week.

The new rules will require tobacco manufacturers to include graphic health warnings on 80 percent of cigarette, nicotine pouch and e-cigarette packaging as it aims to sensitize the public about the dangers of smoking.

“The goals of graphic health warnings are to increase knowledge about the risks associated with tobacco use, discourage people from starting tobacco use, reduce tobacco consumption and persuade tobacco users to quit smoking, and overcome challenges related to language and the inability to read the text of messages alone,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement. public notice.

Research shows that cigarette smoking is by far the most dangerous form of tobacco use.

This is associated with an increased risk of a wide range of diseases, such as lung cancer, oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Tobacco is estimated to kill 9,000 Kenyans every year and greater graphic health warnings will play a role in reducing this number.

According to the World Health Organization, every second smoker dies prematurely every day because of smoking.

2020 data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that the smoking rate in Kenya was 8.6%, and local health authorities want to reduce this to below five percent by 2025.

Anti-smoking activists have advocated increasing taxes to put cigarettes out of reach for many Kenyans, especially young people who have picked up the habit.

Graphic health warnings were not well received by the tobacco industry, with players arguing that local regulations did not distinguish tobacco products from other nicotine products such as nicotine pouches, which they advertise as less dangerous than tobacco.

“Among smokers who want to quit, some manage to do it on their own, but most do not. Nicotine replacements and nicotine pouches increase the number of smokers who switch to these products and away from cigarettes. Unfortunately, these replacement products are often unattractive or insufficiently effective among many smokers. They are also often too expensive,” said one industry player who did not want to reveal his name for fear of victimization.

“Legislation is needed in Kenya to separate tobacco products from nicotine products and recognize the role that alternative nicotine delivery products play. The current campaign with graphic health warnings does not distinguish between the two products.”