By: James Mutua
The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance has condemned the Kenyan government for blatantly contravening the Tobacco Control Act and regulations by
continuing to sell the highly-addictive oral nicotine pouches.
KETCA said that the most notorious of the products are Lyft and Velo that
are hawked around young people.
The alliance said that there is evidence that nicotine pouches are harmful to the developing brains of adolescents and that it harms the foetus of pregnant mothers who use them.
Speaking at a Nairobi hotel on Wednesday, they said that the pouches do not carry written warnings and pictorial images to warn users of their dangers.
During the press conference, they claimed that BAT Kenya had imported ten tonnes of Velo from South Africa in July and August this year, and that it has already ordered additional supplies, which are expected to flood the
country anytime.
They asked Health Cabinet Secretary
to immediately ban the sale of the harmful products.
They said that they were concerned by a meeting which was convened by Kenya Bureau of Standards last week in
Nairobi that purported to develop standards and guidelines for the sale of the illegal pouches in Kenya.
Shisha ban
In December 2017, Kenya implemented a comprehensive ban on shisha, including the use, import, manufacture, sale, offer of sale, advertising, promotion, distribution and encouraging or facilitating its use. The ban was upheld by all courts of law where it was challenged. However, they claimed a few individuals running night clubs in Nairobi have routinely ignored the ban.
