No form of tobacco is safe, WHO warns

Tobacco is harmful in all forms, the World Health Organisation has warned.

WHO county representative Rudi Eggers said efforts to control tobacco use have forced manufacturers to come up with newer products such as heated tobacco, electronic nicotine delivery system and shisha.

“Let us be wary of these. The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced,” Eggers said on Thursday.

He spoke during the launch of the National Tobacco Control Strategic Plan 2019-2023 in Nairobi.

The warning comes barely a month after BAT announced the introduction of nicotine pouches, a form of smokeless tobacco product.

The WHO official reiterated that imposing high taxes on tobacco is the most effective way to reduce tobacco use especially among youth and low income individuals.

Eggers said increasing tobacco prices by 10 per cent decreases tobacco consumption by five per cent among smokers in low and middle income countries.

“The economic costs of tobacco use and exposure are substantial and include significant healthcare costs for treating disease as well as the lost human capital that results from tobacco attributable morbidity and mortality,” Eggers said.

Eggers said tobacco is the leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment globally, killing more than eight million people each year.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows Kenya has 2.5 million adults who are regular tobacco users with the majority of them smoking an average of seven cigarettes per day.

Twenty-five per cent of Kenyans are exposed to tobacco smoke at home and at the workplace.

It has been reported that about 10 per cent of Kenyan youth aged 13 to 15 years regularly consume tobacco, with consumption being higher among boys (12.8 per cent).

A quarter of children in this age are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, 44.5 per cent in enclosed public places and 49.1 per cent in outdoor public places.

“Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco,” Eggers said.

“This spending behavior is difficult to curb because tobacco is so addictive.”

The official also noted that illicit trade in tobacco products poses major health, economic and security concerns.

It is estimated that one in every 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally is illicit.

He said the illicit market is supported by various players ranging from petty peddlers to organised criminal networks involved in arms and human trafficking.

“While publicly stating its support for action against the illicit trade, the tobacco industry’s behind the scenes behaviour has been very different,” he reiterated.

The official noted that the tobacco industry works to block implementation of tobacco control measures such as tax increases and pictorial health warnings by misleadingly arguing that they will fuel the illicit trade.

Tobacco use is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases.

Tobacco smoke contains 7,000 chemicals including carbon dioxide, cancer-causing agents, toxins, irritants, tar, nicotine and benzene among others.