A case for increasing taxes on cigarettes, vapes and oral nicotine pouches, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya became a party to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004; three years later, the country enacted the Tobacco Control Act.The FCTC and this national policy advocate for progressive cigarette taxation to reduce cigarette consumption.However, the current Kenyan cigarette tax regime fails to control cigarette consumption efficiently, especially among young people.For example, the 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (13-15 years) revealed that 1 out of 10 students aged 13 to 15 years were current smokers, and boys were twice as likely to be using tobacco than girls. 1,2In 2013, WHO reported that this prevalence estimate remained relatively unchanged despite the adoption of the Tobacco Control Act.To date, no comparable survey has been published in Kenya, but in 2022, preliminary findings of a study conducted by the Kenya Tobacco Board on the use of tobacco and its products in four counties showed that consumption of e-cigarette and nicotine pouches was increasing among young people in Kenya. 3These developments underscore the need for reforming tax policies to protect young Kenyans from nicotineand tobacco-related harms.