A comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products is an intervention used to reduce the demand of tobacco products. Through a strong legal environment and technical means to appropriately ban and enforce complete advertisement promotion and sponsorship including cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorship originating from other territories.
When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) it’s called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Nonsmokers who breathe in SHS take in nicotine and toxic chemicals the same way smokers do and therefore need to be protected. It has been scientifically evidenced that exposure to tobacco smoke causes disease, death and disability. Exposure is commonly in form of SHS which is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). It is the smoke that is exhaled by smokers or is given off by burning tobacco. It can be classified into two forms: mainstream smoke as the smoke exhaled by the smoker and sidestream smoke as the smoke from the lighted end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, or tobacco burning in a hookah (Shisha). To raise awareness on the health impact of secondhand smoke (SHS) in the Kenyan Population Actions the board will:
The board facilitates the Introduction of Health warnings on tobacco that have been found to inform smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent nonsmokers from starting to smoke. Warnings on tobacco products are an ideal way of communicating with smokers because they pair the warning directly with smoking behaviour.
Graphic health warning labels on cigarette packs are noticed by the majority of adolescents, increase adolescents’ cognitive processing of these messages and have the potential to lower smoking intentions. The introduction of graphic warning labels may help to reduce smoking among adolescents who are the most vulnerable to start smoking. Graphic health warnings are also a suitable alternative for passing information on the dangers of tobacco use to the illiterate. The board will:
The following aspects to reduce the accessibility to and promotion of tobacco products to minors:
The illicit trading of tobacco products is the supply, distribution and sale of smuggled genuine, counterfeit or cheap tobacco products. It works on the principle that there is a financial incentive to source a product in a lower-priced market, transport, distribute and sell it in a higher-priced market. This can include international movements or within countries that allow for intra-community price differentials. Illicit trade of tobacco products denies governments of much needed revenues from tobacco taxation while at the same time increasing supply (access) and affordability of tobacco products, hence defeating public health goals by reducing the impact of tobacco tax increases. Recent studies estimate that approximately 11% of the world cigarette market is illicit, representing over 600 billion cigarettes a year and resulting in annual government revenue losses of over US$40 billion.36 Further, it has also been shown that if global illicit trade were eliminated, governments would gain at least $31 billion and from 2030 onwards would save over 160,000 lives a year due to a projected cigarette price increase of 3.9% and a consequent fall in consumption of 2.0%37. Besides the direct revenue loss, illicit trade in tobacco products leads to decrease in tax compliance and effectiveness and leads to the undermining of the tax system as a whole. Article 15 of the FCTC calls upon Parties to put in place mechanisms to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, including smuggling, illicit manufacturing, through domestic legislation and regional approaches. Further, the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit trade in Tobacco Products (ITP) was negotiated by parties to the FCTC with the objective of “eliminating all forms of illicit trade in tobacco product
The following actions are done to curb illicit trade:
Tobacco tax and price policy measures have been found to be one of the most effective and cost-effective measures of tobacco control due to its potential to reduce tobacco consumption and raise government revenue. Price measures are considered to be the most effective means of controlling tobacco use. An effective tax increase is likely to increase prices of tobacco products and make them less affordable, hence reducing consumption. Section 12 of the Tobacco Control Act, 2007 requires the Cabinet secretary in charge of finance to Implement tax policies and where appropriate, price policies on Tobacco and tobacco products. Kenya has made significant progress over the years culminating in improvement of the excise tax structure for tobacco products; including simplification of the structure, indexation to account for inflation and a general increase of excise tax rates from Kshs. 1200 per 1000 cigarettes (or 35% of retail selling price) in 2012 and Ksh. 1800 and Ksh. 2500 per 1000 cigarettes for plain and filtered cigarettes respectively in 2019. This plan will guide the country towards progressive increase of excise tax and prices for tobacco products in line.
The board shall: