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Efforts To Enforce Tobacco Control Act Kick Off |
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Some 1,000 officers to be trained amid stiff opposition from key industry players Efforts to enforce anti-smoking laws have been stepped up. The government has begun training officers to enforce the tobacco Control Act 2007.
“Enforcement officers are not just meant to arrest and prosecute offenders but also to educate the public about the dangers of consuming tobacco,” said Rachael Kitonyo, Executive Director of Institute of Legislative Affairs (ILA).
Ms Kitonyo spoke yesterday at the launch of a two-day training workshop in Nairobi workshop in Nairobi organized by the Institute.
ILA will organize training for about 900 public health and city council officers. The training will be countrywide, including 100civil society personnel.
The Tobacco Control Act, which came into effect in July last year, spells outs strategies to curb production and consumption of tobacco. Enforcement has however, proved a challenge than initially thought.
Smoke-free zone
The Act calls for the establishment of smoke-free zones in the cities and buildings, banning tobacco advertisements and placing larger warning labels on cigarette packs.
It also bans selling of cigarettes in individual sticks, encourages stiffer taxation of tobacco firms, and replacing tobacco cultivation with alternative crops.
The Act envisages enforcement by public health officers, local authorities’ officers and police officers.
However, head of government tobacco control board Prof. Peter A. Odhiambo says tobacco companies are expanding operations and changing marketing strategies to defeat the Act.
“Although the period for the tobacco industry to comply with the provisions of the Act has expired, we still see a number of violations by the industry,” says Prof. Peter Odhiambo.
While government has declared public buildings and public places smoke –free zones, cigarettes manufacturers have yet to place larger warning labels on cigarette packs.
A World Health Organization report last year revealed that the number of smokers was growing in Kenya even with the implementation of control strategies, blaming the tobacco industry for targeting youths to maintain high profits.
The SH20 billion industry has been quietly resisting full implementation of the Act saying more than 500,000 jobs and Sh7 billion in taxes to the Government are at risk.
Industry officials say the Act will significantly eat into their profit margins.
Issues at hand
- Parliament passed the tobacco control act in 2007, to control production and consumption.
- Many local authorities have banned smoking in public and established ‘smoking zones.’
- The act bans advertisement of cigarettes to children.
- Tobacco companies say the act will cripple the industry , which pays Sh7 billion as taxes annually and employs 500, 000 people.
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