Kenya debates amendments to tobacco control law
Kenya is discussing a bill to amend the Tobacco Control Act of 2007. Columnist Simon Mwangi, deputy director for corporate communications at the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada), writes that the initiative has triggered sharp public and political debate.
In a Nation Kenya column, Mwangi notes that the bill aims to close gaps in the original law. According to his description, the document provides for a ban on most flavourings in modern non-traditional tobacco products, limits on nicotine concentration and a strict ban on digital marketing to protect young people.
Claims about the illicit market
Mwangi claims that campaigns he describes as backed by the tobacco industry are circulating figures in Kenyan media and parliamentary submissions stating that the illicit market allegedly accounts for 45–50% of the country’s tobacco market. In the author’s view, such claims are intended to persuade policymakers to abandon restrictions on flavourings and nicotine concentration.
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The author also writes that arguments about a possible increase in illicit trade after tax rises may shift the discussion from health protection to an assessment of the risks of regulation itself. No independent assessment of the share of the illicit tobacco market is provided in this column.
Origins of data and research
The material mentions an investigation into previously confidential tobacco industry documents. According to Mwangi’s account, they revealed that companies built networks of sympathetic scientists, funded organisations that appeared independent, promoted non-peer-reviewed research and concealed unfavourable results.
Mwangi called on governments, researchers and the media to check who funded research, what data may have been excluded, whether the methodology can be independently replicated and whether the conclusions correspond to the evidence presented.
