The Tobacco Control Board (TCB) has called on the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) to revoke the registration of nicotine pouches sold by tobacco companies.
Together with health advocates, the Board wants the pouches regulated under the Tobacco Control Act-which sets strict measures on how they can be sold.
The pouches, which carry no health and age warnings, are registered as drugs, and allowed to be sold as “General Sales Products”
The Board said they can be readily sold in all retail outlets.
“We wrote a letter to the PPB to ask for degazettment of the registration of nicotine pouches. Nicotine is a derivative of tobacco and so it falls under the ambit of the Tobacco Control Act, which talks of ‘tobacco and tobacco products.” Said Chairman of the Tobacco Control Board, Professor Wilfred Lessan
TCB was created by the 2007 Tobacco Control Act to regulate all tobacco and related products nationally.
The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance, the umbrella body for all civil society organisations involved in tobacco control in Kenya, said nicotine-based alternatives to cigarettes are not safer because they also sicken and kill people.
The alliance said Nicotine is hugely addictive and is especially dangerous for teens whose brains are still developing.
The World Health Organization says nicotine exposure during adolescence can disrupt normal brain development and may have long-lasting effects, such as increased impulsivity and mood disorders.
It can also cause miscarriage in pregnant women and even sudden infant death syndrome.
“The tobacco industry and those talking of harm reduction are deceiving the public. They are preying on the youth by promoting harmful nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes. These products compromise the body’s immunity and make users more susceptible to Covid-19 and other diseases.” Said KETCA National chairman Joel Gitali.
The pouches look like small, whitish tea bags, and are placed under the lip from where the nicotine is then absorbed through their gum.
The Kenya tobacco control alliance also condemned the listing of cigarettes as ‘Essential Products’ by the government during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The International Institute for Legislative Affairs urged the government to protect the youth from the tobacco industry.
IILA CEO Emma Wanyonyi said advertising and promotion is banned in Kenya but the industry is using the social media to market its products.
Ms Wanyonyi also urged the government to stop promotions by tobacco companies disguised as Corporate Social Responsibility.
“The world cannot afford another generation deceived by the lies of the tobacco industry, which pretends to promote freedom of personal choice while really ensuring eternal profits – regardless of the millions of people that pay with their life each year,” WHO said in a statement last week.
Kenya has the highest recorded smoking prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a survey by Tobacco Free Kids.
An estimated 11.6% of the adult population (2.5 million adults) use tobacco products, and ten percent of 13-15-year-olds (12.8% of boys and 6.7% girls).
Each year, 30,000 Kenyans die from tobacco related causes, according to Tobacco Atlas.
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