Ministry of Health, tobacco stakeholders lock horns over 'graphic' health warnings

The Ministry of Health and the tobacco industry have locked horns over the use of graphic images as health warnings on the packaging of tobacco products.

In a public participation forum on Wednesday, stakeholders in the sector are now calling on the ministry to apply science in its approach to creating health warnings.

British America Tobacco, the Kenya Bar Owners Association and the Retail Trade Association of Kenya have put up a fierce fight against the use of graphic images such as coffins on the packaging of tobacco products, as proposed by the Ministry of Health. 

“We believe that tobacco can also be a very emotive topic and we strongly are recommending to the Ministry of Health to remove the emotion out of the discussion and to focus on science and evidence,” said British American Tobacco MD Crispin Achola.

The main point of contention is the use of certain graphic images on new, smoke-free products such as Velo and e-cigarettes.

Industry players say the images proposed for use by the ministry do not take into account the reduced harmful effects of the new generation of nicotine products.

“So in matters vape, electronic pouches, the diagrams were done before those were in the market, so the government should look to first amend the law to be able to address vape and e-cigarettes through the diagrams, and as somebody referenced you cannot use a smoke diagram to illustrate a non-smoke diagram,” said Retail Trade Association of Kenya CEO Wambui Mbarire.

Achola, added: “The novel nicotine products are less risky in comparison to combustibles. I’m not saying at all that these novel products are safe, they do carry the risk of addiction, but given the fact that they have differentiated risk profiles, differentiated science, differentiated usage, that needs to be reflected in the regulation.”

The government maintains that while the views of the industry will be taken into account, its top priority is the protection of consumers.

“The industry is doing its work, what they are doing is not illegal, but what we are doing in the Ministry of Health and the Tobacco Control Board is to regulate what they do,” Tobacco Control Board Chairperson Naomi Shaban stated.

Even as the market for new, smoke-free nicotine products grows, sector players say the government has remained hesitant in developing regulations to accommodate the new products.

“We’ve run into regulatory headwinds where the ministry has not given us very clear directives in terms of how they want to regulate this product and this has led to a situation where the industry has had to cease the marketing and sale of these products while waiting for guidance from the Ministry of Health, but this is taking an inordinate amount of time,” Achola added.