Shisha smoking apparatus. /NACADAThe Ministry of Health has called on county governments to enforce the ban on shisha to avert its negative health implications on society.
Kenya imposed a comprehensive ban on shisha in 2017, including its manufacture, importation, use, sale, advertising, promotion, distribution and encouraging or facilitating its use.
The country became the fourth in East Africa to implement the prohibition after Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa said county governments should be cognisant of the fact that shisha can cause serious health implications including lung problems and cancers.
“We are hoping the county governments will implement the ban on shisha because when you see children getting addicted to these things, ultimately their dreams are shuttered,” she said, adding that shisha use can also result in psychological issues and social economic challenges to families because of the expenditure incurred to sustain addiction.
Shisha smoking, also known as water pipe, hookah or hubble bubble smoking, originates from the Middle East and certain areas of Asia.
It is a way of smoking tobacco through a bowl with a hose or tube joined on. Wood, coal or charcoal is burned in the shisha pipe to heat the tobacco and create the smoke.
The tube has a mouthpiece that the smoker uses to breathe in the smoke.
Shisha usually contains tobacco which is sometimes mixed with fruit or molasses sugar.
Popular flavours include apple, strawberry, mint and cola. Shisha smoke contains high levels of chemicals and poisons, including carbon monoxide and tar.
Several of these chemicals are known to cause mouth and lung cancers, heart disease, respiratory and other diseases.
Besides, the smoking pipes used in shisha bars and cafes may not be cleaned properly, risking the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis.
In April 2023, the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) warned that shisha smoking was slowly but steadily crawling back into the country despite its ban by the government in December 2017.
In 2014, before the ban, the Ministry of Health in conjunction with Nacada barred 19 shisha flavours found to contain bhang, heroin and cocaine after 79.2 per cent of shisha samples tested positive for heroin.
Contravening the law on shisha ban attracts a fine not exceeding Sh50,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
