Kenya: Tobacco industry interference increases during pandemic

Kenya’s efforts to combat tobacco industry interference have been significantly scaled back compared to last year. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the suspension of provisions that regulate relations with the tobacco industry.

The Tobacco Interference Index[1] assesses how a country's public authorities try to protect themselves and their public policies from the influence of the tobacco industry, in accordance with the provisions of theWorld Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC). The higher the index, the less protected the country is from interference from this industry. Kenya has just published its second report. The score is 40 points out of 100 compared to 33 points in 2019.

In 2015, British American Tobacco (BAT) challenged the constitutionality of Kenya’s 2014 regulations in the High Court and then the Court of Appeal. In November 2019, the Supreme Court ruled against the tobacco industry, upholding the 2014 regulations[2] which provides for the implementation of the directives of Article 5.3 of the FCTC. Despite this decision, a number of public officials and public actors do not comply with this regulation which concerns relations with the tobacco industry. The latest study also highlighted that a number of provisions of the Tobacco Control Act 2007, have been violated by the tobacco industry. These violations have particularly occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic[3] and specifically concerned promotional and advertising actions in favor of tobacco

The 2020 report shows that while Kenya has been successful in adopting protective tobacco control legislation and protection from tobacco industry interference, their implementation remains challenging. The current health context has been used by tobacco companies without opposition from the government or even with their agreement. The Kenyan government has accepted a donation from the tobacco industry of 10.6 million shillings (82,000 euros) for the Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund. In return, the government listed tobacco products as essential products.

Kenya has the highest prevalence of tobacco use recorded in sub-Saharan Africa. In the country, more than 8,000 people die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases each year, while about 10% of 13-15 year olds and nearly 12% of adults continue to smoke every day[4]The report recommends the proper implementation of all national tobacco control regulations as well as those relating to Article 5.3 of the FCTC to counteract industry interference, even during a pandemic.