By Dr Jumaa Bwika
JUNE 3 – Every year the world marks World No Tobacco Day, a reminder that tobacco remains one of the leading causes of preventable death globally. This year’s theme, “Unmasking the Appeal: Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction,” comes at a critical moment when the tobacco and nicotine industry is aggressively reinventing itself to attract a new generation of users, especially children and adolescents. According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health, about 12,000 Kenyans, including passive smokers, die annually from smoking-related causes.
For decades, governments and health advocates have made commendable progress in reducing smoking rates through public education, taxation, smoke-free policies, and restrictions on advertising. Today, however, the tobacco industry has shifted tactics. Sleek packaging, candy-like flavours, influencer marketing, and digital advertising are increasingly being used to make nicotine products appear fashionable, harmless, and socially acceptable. The rise of e-cigarettes and other emerging nicotine products demonstrates how quickly the industry adapts to regulation. Globally, adolescents are significantly more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults, potentially exposing them to years of nicotine addiction. In some regions, youth vaping rates have reached alarming levels, threatening to reverse decades of public health gains on tobacco and nicotine addiction.
To shield young people from tobacco and nicotine addiction, governments, healthcare workers, schools, parents, and communities must take urgent, coordinated, and lasting action.
Governments must take the lead by strengthening tobacco control laws and closing regulatory loopholes that allow new nicotine products to flourish unchecked. Commendably, the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was passed by the Senate on 3 March 2026, proposes to broaden the definition of “tobacco product” to include synthetic nicotine, nicotine analogues, e-cigarettes, electronic delivery systems, nicotine pouches, vapour, and aerosol products.
This expansion would bring all such products under tobacco regulation and, if effectively enforced, significantly enhance protection for young people. Overall, the Bill strongly aligns with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
One of the most effective measures proposed in the Bill is the ban on flavours in tobacco and nicotine products. Flavours such as bubble gum and menthol are intentionally designed to mask the harshness of nicotine and make these products appealing to young users. Removing such flavours can significantly reduce the attractiveness of these products, particularly among adolescents. The Bill also prohibits additives that imply health benefits, energy-boosting properties, or vitality- enhancing effects, as well as characterizing flavours.
Equally important is the enforcement of plain packaging regulations. Tobacco companies spend billions creating attractive branding that associates smoking and vaping with glamour, freedom, and sophistication. Standardized packaging strips away that illusion by removing logos, attractive colours and promotional imagery while emphasizing health warnings. Evidence from countries that have adopted plain packaging shows that it reduces the appeal of tobacco products and increases awareness of their dangers.
The Bill also contains excellent proposals on plain packaging, digital advertising control, and conflict-of-interest protection, with explicit regulation of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. If adopted, the crucial challenge will be in execution and we hope to see comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and promotion across all platforms, including social media given that young people today consume information primarily online and digital marketing remains a powerful tool for tobacco companies.
Taxation remains another powerful strategy. Increasing taxes on tobacco and nicotine products reduces affordability, particularly among young people who are price sensitive. Although the Bill proposes incremental tobacco taxation, it could be more explicit in ensuring that tobacco taxes outpace income growth. Higher prices discourage initiation, encourage cessation, and generate revenue that governments can reinvest in public health programmes, awareness campaigns, and prevention initiatives.
Healthcare workers also have a vital role to play. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and community health workers are often the first point of contact for individuals struggling with nicotine addiction. They must therefore be equipped to provide evidence-based cessation counselling, early screening, and support services. Tobacco cessation should become a routine part of healthcare delivery, particularly for adolescents and young adults.
Additionally, inclusion of medicines that improve chances of successfully quitting smoking from less than 10 per cent without intervention to more than 50 per cent with treatment support, should be included in the essential medicines list so that they are more widely accessible. Consideration should also be given to lowering taxes and duties on these medicines to make them more affordable. At the same time, we must strengthen our counselling and clinical psychology capacity across our health institutions, as cognitive behavioural therapy remains a crucial intervention in smoking cessation.
Despite strong intentions and progressive legislation, enforcement capacity remains a major concern. While the Bill creates robust legal tools, its success will ultimately depend on effective inspection systems, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) testing capacity, border control, county-level implementation, online-market surveillance, and the ability to monitor influencer and social-media marketing.
This World No Tobacco Day highlights a critical truth, that we must unmask the predatory appeal of tobacco and nicotine products now. To protect future generations from corporate-sponsored addiction, governments, healthcare professionals, and communities must stop playing defence and begin taking bold, decisive action.
Dr Jumaa Bwika is the Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa.
