Written by Joseph Magero

Public health advocates in Kenya are writing to the Ministry of Health highlighting their concerns that the proposed graphic health warnings for nicotine alternatives are misleading and will deter smokers from switching to potentially life-saving products.

Numerous warnings have been proposed for vapes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches in Kenya. The warnings misleadingly claim that the products are “not a safe alternative to cigarettes” and cause “mouth cancer.”

Other warnings proposed for vapes state “Warning tobacco use kills,” despite vapes containing zero tobacco. These warnings are accompanied by excessively grotesque imagery that doesn’t accurately represent the risks associated with using the products.

Regulation must be factual and represent the science of the product, and their risks are also scientifically established. Tobacco-free smokeless nicotine products should not have graphic health warnings as that puts them in the same risk category as traditional cigarettes and tobacco products.

What evidence is there that tobacco-free nicotine products are a safer alternative?

It’s widely agreed that it is the thousands of chemicals contained in tobacco smoke that make smoking so dangerous.

There is no combustion in Vapes and oral nicotine pouches, meaning that people who switch completely from smoking to vaping or pouches have significantly reduced exposure to toxins associated with cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Tobacco-free nicotine products are not completely risk-free, but they are substantially less harmful than smoking. Nicotine has been regarded as an effective tool to help smokers quit for decades and is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines in the form of nicotine replacement therapies like patches, gums and sprays.

What will happen if the graphic health warnings proposals aren’t amended?

The fear is that the current proposals to apply graphic health warnings on tobacco-free nicotine products will mislead smokers about the risks of nicotine alternatives and deter smokers from switching. If this happens, the opportunity to save smokers’ lives will be lost. As the World Vapers’ Alliance explained in its une lettre ouverte to the Ministry of Health, the graphic health warnings threaten smoking cessation efforts made in recent years in Kenya by discouraging smokers from switching and making those who did switch think that the effort was worthless and can go back to smoking traditional cigarettes at the same risks. 

The Royal College of Physicians warns against lumping safer alternatives like patches and gums together with tobacco products in terms of risk communication due to their valuable role as a smoking cessation tool, which is exactly what the Ministry of Health in Kenya is doing in the current proposals.