Tobacco-sponsored courses misleading medics, WHO warns Kenya

Kenyan health advocates have supported the World Health Organization  in its demand that tobacco firms should stop sponsoring medical training for healthcare workers.

The WHO on June 12, complained that the industry has been funding continuing medical education programmes for medics.

It said the courses in question are on tobacco use cessation, but which offer untested products by the industry as cessation aids.

“WHO underlines the critical need for transparency and ethical standards in medical training, and supports calls for certification bodies to avert any partnerships with tobacco and related industries in medical education, to stop dissemination of biased information that could hinder public health efforts,” the WHO said in a statement.

The Kenya Tobacco Control and Health Promotion Alliance also noted that some medical workers have been promoting nicotine pouches as alternatives for smokers.

There is no independent study showing that smokers, when introduced to the pouches, stop tobacco use.

“Those who have mastered the tactics employed by tobacco industry must keep their heads up,” said Ketca chairman Joel Gitali.

“In every meeting that we have attended with tobacco industry, their demand has been that as we work on a legal framework, they be licensed to continue with their businesses of importing, manufacturing, distributing and retailing,” he said.

Sanuel Ochieng, the CEO of the Consumer Information Network, a public watchdog, said the Kenyan tobacco control regulations outlaw all forms of sponsorship by the industry.

“We however need to perfect our act and fill any loopholes as we move forward on the Act and Regulations,” he said.

In its statement, the WHO supported the decision made by Medscape (an online resource for medical news and educational content tailored for healthcare professionals), to permanently remove a series of accredited medical education courses on smoking cessation funded by Philip Morris International.

“WHO also encourages healthcare professionals to remain vigilant against conflicts of interest and attempts to promote consumer products that may perpetuate nicotine addiction and undermine tobacco control efforts. It urges healthcare providers and certification bodies to focus on evidence-based education and policies that prioritise public health not commercial interests,” WHO said.

It called on governments to enforce comprehensive bans on all types of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as well as national laws of many countries where sponsorship of medical education is illegal.

Kenya signed and ratified the FCTC in 2004, and later enacted the Tobacco Control Act in 2007 and the Tobacco Control Regulations in 2014.

Over the years, Kenya has made significant strides in reducing smoking prevalence, with rates dropping from 22.6 per cent in 2015 to 11.6 per cent in 2022, according to the Ministry of Health.

Despite Kenya’s laws, an assessment last year showed Kenya has Africa’s fastest deteriorating public health policies to protect its citizens from tobacco and harmful nicotine products.

Tobacco is the world’s biggest preventable cause of non-communicable diseases such as cancer.

It showed the tobacco industry in Kenya is audaciously and successfully fighting the implementation of those laws.

The 2023 Africa Tobacco Industry Interference Index, showed Kenya has Africa’s highest level of interference, compared to 2021.

“Eight countries showed deterioration from their 2021 rankings with Kenya recording the highest level of deterioration,” the new index shows.

It measures how governments are responding to tobacco industry interference and protecting their public health policies from commercial and vested interests of the industry as required by the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The interference enabled the tobacco industry to flood the Kenyan market with unregulated nicotine pouches and other unregulated products such as e-cigarettes.

Recently, MPs asked the Ministry of Health to ban nicotine pouches in Kenya because they flout the Tobacco Control Act.

"The [Health] CS should clarify if the substance has sneaked its way into the Kenyan market as a rebrand of Lyft that was banned by the government in 2019," Sabina Chege said in Parliament recently, referring to the Velo nicotine pouches sold in the country.

The Act requires nicotine and tobacco products to carry graphic and written health warnings in both English and Kiswahili, covering at least 30 per cent of the package.