Tobacco-sponsored courses are misleading doctors, WHO warns Kenya

Kenyan health activists have backed the World Health Organization in its demand that tobacco companies stop sponsoring medical training for health workers.

The WHO complained on June 12 that industry is providing funding advanced medical training programs for physicians.

It says the courses in question are about tobacco cessation, but untested products are being offered by the industry as quit aids.

“WHO underlines the critical need for transparency and ethical standards in medical education, and supports the call for certification bodies to avoid partnerships with the tobacco and related industries in medical education, to avoid the spread of biased information that could undermine efforts could hinder public health,” the WHO said. said in a statement.

The Kenya Tobacco Control and Health Promotion Alliance also noted that some medical providers are promoting nicotine pouches as an alternative for smokers.

There is no independent research that shows that smokers stop using tobacco when they are introduced to the pouches.

“Those who have mastered the tobacco industry’s tactics should hold their heads high,” said Ketca chairman Joel Gitali.

“At every meeting we attended with the tobacco industry, their demand was that, while we worked on a legal framework, they be granted a license to continue their importing, manufacturing, distribution and retail activities,” he said .

Sanuel Ochieng, the CEO of the Consumer Information Network, a public watchdog, said Kenya’s tobacco control rules ban all forms of industry sponsorship.

“However, we need to perfect our law and close any loopholes as we move forward with the law and regulations,” he said.

In its statement, WHO supported the decision by Medscape (an online source for medical news and educational content tailored to 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 efforts to promote consumer products that could perpetuate nicotine addiction and undermine tobacco control efforts. It urges healthcare providers and certification bodies to focus on evidence-based education and policies that prioritize public health over commercial interests,” WHO said.

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

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

According to the Ministry of Health, Kenya has made significant progress over the years in reducing the prevalence of smoking, from 22.6 percent in 2015 to 11.6 percent in 2022.

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

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

It showed that the tobacco industry in Kenya is boldly and successfully fighting the implementation of these laws.

The 2023 Africa Tobacco Industry Interference Index shows that Kenya has the highest level of interference in Africa, compared to 2021.

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

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

The interference allowed 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 for flouting the Tobacco Control Act.

“The (Health) CS must clarify whether the substance entered the Kenyan market as a rebranding of Lyft which was banned by the government in 2019,” Sabina Chege recently said in parliament, referring to the Velo nicotine pouches used in are sold commercially. country.

The law requires nicotine and tobacco products to contain graphic and written health warnings in both English and Kiswahili, covering at least 30 percent of the package.