Tobacco Control Bill 2024: Health groups warn of industry interference as children as young as six use nicotine pouches
Approximately 244,000 adolescents and 2.3 million Kenyan adults currently use tobacco or nicotine products.
What you need to know:
- The proposed amendments would bring e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and other emerging products under the same regulatory framework as traditional cigarettes.
- Key provisions include a ban on characterising flavours such as fruit, mint, candy, and spice additives that make nicotine products palatable to non-smokers and children.
A six-year-old picking up a nicotine pouch. An 11-year-old smoking a cigarette for the first time. A Form Four student suspended from one of Kenya's most prestigious schools for hiding a vape device in his pocket. These are the lived realities of Kenya's escalating tobacco and nicotine crisis, one that health advocates, government officials, and civil society organisations are confronting as the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, gathers pace in Parliament.
The proposed amendments would bring e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and other emerging products under the same regulatory framework as traditional cigarettes. Key provisions include a ban on characterising flavours such as fruit, mint, candy, and spice additives that make nicotine products palatable to non-smokers and children. The bill also proposes banning disposable e-cigarettes, increasing health warning coverage on packaging from the current 30–40 per cent to 75 per cent, and prohibiting the sale of tobacco products within 100 metres of any establishment primarily serving people under 18.
Marking World No Tobacco Day, health experts revealed that Kenya's children are being deliberately targeted by an industry that has learned to disguise addiction as fashion. This is despite a 2024 NACADA survey on drug use among Kenyan university students, which found that 49 per cent of nicotine pouch users cited flavours as the reason for their use, while 68 per cent of e-cigarette users said they used the products because of appealing flavours.
According to recent data from the Tobacco and Drug Abuse Surveillance and Survey (TADSAS 2022) and the 2024 Data on Youth and Tobacco in Africa study, approximately 244,000 adolescents and 2.3 million Kenyan adults currently use tobacco or nicotine products. The average age of initiation into smoked tobacco in Kenya is now 11 years. Some children begin as early as age six. Children as young as five are using smokeless tobacco, while six-year-olds have been documented using nicotine pouches and shisha. Tobacco use is linked to an estimated 12,000 deaths in Kenya every year.
"The era of the visible cigarette is over. What we are dealing with now are products designed to be invisible. They are sleek, scented, pocket-sized, and engineered to appeal to people who would never have touched a cigarette. These products look like highlighters. They smell like strawberries. They get past parents, past teachers, and past our school gates," said Caleb Mbugua, programme officer at the International Institute of Legislative Affairs (IILA).
"Every day that Parliament delays this bill is another day these products entrench themselves further into our schools and homes," Mbugua added.
The Tobacco Control Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), a coalition that includes the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance, the Consumer Information Network, the Kenyan Network of Cancer Organisations, and others raised concern about what they called a deliberate strategy of third-party interference. They described a coordinated campaign by the tobacco and nicotine industry to resist stronger regulation. This industry comprises manufacturers of tobacco and nicotine products, distributors, and smokeless tobacco importers.
In a statement, the coalition noted: "The country faces increasing tobacco and nicotine industry interference aimed at weakening public health protections through opposition to the proposed Tobacco Control Amendment Bill 2024. Over the past several months, Kenyans have witnessed coordinated resistance to stronger tobacco regulation from multiple fronts, including sections of traders, organised business associations, social media campaigns, and individuals appearing on mainstream media platforms to oppose life-saving reforms. Of particular concern is the growing trend where tobacco industry narratives are increasingly being amplified through third parties, including voices presented as independent economic or medical experts."
The coalition noted that Kenya's Tobacco Industry Interference Index score improved slightly — from 48 out of 100 in 2023 to 46 in 2025 — but cautioned that the improvement masked a deeper problem. The industry, they argued, remains highly capable of shaping public policy debates to its advantage. Among the specific concerns raised: the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, currently before Parliament, is being misrepresented as anti-business legislation when its purpose is entirely one of public health protection.
Other concerns include attempts to portray emerging nicotine products as safer alternatives, despite growing evidence of youth addiction and nicotine dependence, and ongoing digital marketing and online promotion of nicotine products targeting young people.
However, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that chronic tobacco consumption is a primary catalyst for major non-communicable diseases. It accounts for nearly two million cardiovascular deaths each year by severely damaging blood vessels and causing strokes. Furthermore, tobacco and nicotine use impair immune defence systems, raising the risk of active pulmonary tuberculosis, while significantly increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Tobacco consumption is also linked to cancer.
Also read: Explainer: All about nicotine pouches
These risks extend symmetrically to non-smokers: involuntary exposure to second-hand smoke accounts for an estimated 1.6 million premature deaths annually, heavily impacting children and vulnerable household members.
Because the human brain undergoes critical structural maturation well into a person's mid-20s, early exposure to nicotine permanently rewires neural pathways, severely disrupting the centres responsible for mood regulation, learning, attention spans, and impulse control. Adolescents establish dependence at an accelerated rate compared to adults, creating a vicious cycle in which individuals suffering from underlying mental health conditions become disproportionately hooked as they temporarily mask psychological distress with heavy, ongoing consumption.
Linet Kosgei, representing the National Cancer Institute, noted that a significant proportion of cancers affecting the lungs, throat, and mouth are directly linked to tobacco and nicotine use.
"Prevention is a critical public health priority. We must prevent initiation, strengthen awareness, and support cessation," she said.
Dr John Gondi, director of Primary Healthcare at the Ministry of Health, representing Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni, said: "Tobacco is not just a health issue; it carries significant social, economic, and environmental consequences that are routinely overlooked. The harm reduction narrative promoted around emerging nicotine products is misleading. These are not safe alternatives."
Dr Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, WHO Country Representative, echoed the urgency.
"There is growing concern that youth are being reached by emerging nicotine products within schools. These are marketed in ways that make them appealing, increasing the risk of early addiction among learners. There is a strong need to protect youth from exposure and access by creating safe environments that shield them from nicotine and tobacco products and reduce their availability and appeal," said Dr Kimambo.
"Cessation support is crucial. Individuals already using tobacco or nicotine products should be supported to quit and overcome addiction. We must continue educating youth to help them make informed choices. Legal and regulatory frameworks must keep pace with emerging nicotine products and marketing strategies to ensure children and youth are properly protected from exposure, access, and addiction," she added.
Beyond health, tobacco control CSOs drew attention to the economic toll of tobacco use — figures they argued should silence any claim that the industry is a net contributor to Kenya's development. Kenya loses between Sh70 billion and Sh97 billion (USD 544 million–756 million) annually due to tobacco-related illness and lost productivity. For every shilling collected in tobacco revenue, the economy loses approximately three shillings in healthcare costs and productivity losses.
The CSOs called on the government to raise tobacco taxes to at least 75 per cent of the retail price, as recommended by the WHO. Kenya's current tobacco tax share sits at approximately 34.1 per cent, well below the global benchmark, making cigarettes and nicotine products comparatively affordable and accessible to young buyers.
The Tobacco Control CSOs are now demanding immediate passage of the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Advocates emphasise that these proposed amendments must be aggressively shielded from tobacco industry interference and structurally enhanced to comprehensively regulate the rapid proliferation of emerging nicotine and tobacco products.
To effectively combat this shifting public health landscape, the CSOs are pushing for a significantly stronger regulatory framework for modern alternatives like e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. This proposed crackdown includes instituting plain packaging mandates, enforcing comprehensive graphic health warnings, completely banning youth-appealing fruit and candy flavours, and restricting online promotions and influencer marketing campaigns.
Furthermore, the coalition emphasises the critical need to shield children and adolescents from digital advertising, covert product placements in entertainment media, and misleading harm-reduction messaging explicitly designed to downplay risk and hook younger demographics. To systematically reduce affordability and deter youth uptake, the organisations are calling for annual tax increases implemented in strict alignment with WHO recommendations.
Ultimately, the CSOs stress that safeguarding Kenya's future depends on a total commitment to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ensuring that national public health policymaking processes remain entirely insulated from commercial tobacco industry influence.
