Anti-tobacco lobby opposes plan to introduce e-cigarettes

The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance has opposed plans by manufacturers to introduce a range of nicotine products known as nicotine pouches.

Nicotine pouch is a non-tobacco, whitish product that users place under their lip to absorb the nicotine through their gum.

Ketca programmes director Thomas Lindi yesterday said the products to be launched next month should not be licensed by government as they are a threat to public health.

Lindi said tobacco companies are using the products in public relations campaigns to portray themselves as part of the solution to the global tobacco epidemic when their main business is still to sell cigarettes.

Cigarettes are known to kill more than 30,000 Kenyans annually, according to health ministry data. 

“The company claims it has reduced risks, compared to cigarettes, but it has not publicly produced adequate data to show nicotine pouches are a less risky alternative to cigarettes. In any case, why should Kenyans be subjected to harmful products  merely because they are 'less-harmful'?” Lindi asked.

National Cancer Institute acting CEO Alfred Karagu, while appearing before the National Assembly Health Committee on Thursday last week, said that cancer kills 33,000 Kenyans every year.

He said oesophageal cancer kills nearly everyone who contracts it in Kenya.

According to NCI, 4,380 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer annually, and at least 4,351 die every year, meaning only 29 survive. But they live with crippling post-operative complications.

Cigarette smoking is a key risk factor for oesophageal cancer and is the most important preventable cause of many cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

“Smokers should be made to quit and not shift their smoking to alternative tobacco products. The companies want to maintain their clientèle,” Ketca chairperson Joel Gitali said.

He said that since the products can be used discreetly, they may also appeal to teenagers, who will live with the effects of nicotine addiction and other health effects.

This, he said, will particularly lead young people to take up more harmful forms of nicotine or tobacco consumption.

BAT's Managing Director Beverly Spencer when releasing the half-year 2019 results on July 19, announced the company will introduce nicotine pouches in the Kenyan market.

He said it will help reduce risks associated with passive smoking.

Spencer said the pouches known as Modern Oral Nicotine, are not in any way related to cigarette sticks or vapour products.

“It is the smoking and the burning of tobacco that creates the risks associated with cigarettes, which is why we want to introduce the pouches,” Spencer said.

Over the years, Kenya has made steps in reducing the burden of cancer, by helping thousands of people quit tobacco and other nicotine-based products that cause harm.

It’s for this reason Kenya became a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on February 27, 2005.

A recent study by Nacada showed that the percentage of Kenyans aged over 15 years who use tobacco products had declined marginally from nine per cent in 2012 to eight per cent in 2017.

This means that about 2.2 million Kenyans still use tobacco products.

(edited by O. Owino)