The rise in flavoured nicotine products, coupled with aggressive social media marketing and internet sales, is creating a new wave of addiction.
For a hospital owned and run by a leading psychiatrist to publicly embrace this position is a deep disappointment. Medical institutions should be the last bastion of integrity, not the next billboard for nicotine producers.
Vaping is not a step-down from smoking; it is a calculated detour that leads young people back to addiction—just packaged with fruit flavours and influencer aesthetics. Nicotine is a neurotoxin, especially damaging to adolescent brains. It interferes with cognitive development, impairs emotional regulation, and accelerates dependency. The youth—our children—are the primary targets of these products, not the so-called “adult smokers” cited in harm reduction arguments. Studies show that vaping increases the likelihood of smoking initiation, not cessation.
The harm doesn’t end with addiction. Across the globe, young people are reporting serious health complications: respiratory distress, collapsed lungs, and neurological symptoms. Mental health impacts are also on the rise—anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation are increasingly correlated with regular vape use.
Kenya is not immune. The rise in flavored nicotine products, coupled with aggressive social media marketing and internet sales, is creating a new wave of addiction. We commend recent steps taken by the Ministry of Health, such as mandating graphic health warnings on all nicotine products. But this must be the beginning, not the end. The Ministry must issue a clear and unequivocal position: vaping is harmful, and its promotion as a harm reduction tool must be rejected.
The Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024 offers a promising path forward. It proposes bans on online sales, social media marketing, and flavoured products that appeal to children. These measures must be passed, funded, and enforced. Additionally, excise taxes on novel nicotine products must be increased and maintained at deterrent levels. Enforcement mechanisms for licensing and age restrictions must be robust, transparent, and incorruptible.
Hospitals and medical professionals must also draw a hard line. By aligning with harm reduction narratives, they risk becoming enablers of the very problem they seek to solve. These narratives are not designed to promote health - they are strategies to ensure that nicotine remains in the bloodstream of the next generation. This is not about ideology. It is about integrity. It is about protecting our children from a future of addiction disguised as innovation.
In policy circles, we often talk of
evidence-based approaches. The evidence on vaping is clear, and so must be our
stance. There is no reduction in harm when the harm is repackaged, redirected,
and amplified. Let us not confuse treatment with complicity.
Ms. Karambu Muthaura is a Health Taxes Policy
and Administration Expert, a tobacco control advocate and a member of the UN
Subcommittee on Health Taxes.
