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"id": 215256,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/215256/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kibunguchy",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 294,
"legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
"slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
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"content": "from effects of exposure to tobacco and its products. I would like to say that this Bill is a very good one. The Government of Kenya signed and ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in June, 2004. The philosophy contained in the articles of this Treaty is captured in the Tobacco Control Bill. This allows Kenya to discharge her obligations and rights under international law. The Treaty sets the minimum allowable standards for national regulation and our efforts to domesticate the Treaty should, therefore, not go below this minimum standards set by the FCTC. This Bill does not go below the minimum standards. The Treaty also gives deadlines to member states who have ratified it to follow. Kenya is required to enact this law before the end of 2007. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill has new thinking and proposes to address the problems of tobacco from the angle of solid knowledge and action that we know will give results. The highlights of the Bill include the following:- First, the Bill uses international standards in defining the different words and phrases used within it. Let me add that these definitions took up to six years to negotiate at the global arena under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO). 2326 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 5, 2007 Second, the Bill sets up the Tobacco Control Board and with it a Tobacco Control Fund. These will ensure that a dedicated budget is available to meet the objectives of this Bill and an independent body will focus tobacco control activities for maximum benefit. Membership of this Board is anchored on the principle of \"Pro-Public Health.\" Third, it also legislates for public education in the dangers of tobacco. This will include specific studies in the school curricula. This will ensure that the public receives the correct information and in a timely fashion. We expect that any decision being made regarding tobacco production and use will, therefore, be based on true and correct information. This is the first in our region and, as usual, Kenya is setting the pace for others to follow. Fourth, we are also proposing that taxation of tobacco and its products should contribute to the objectives of this Bill. Indeed, increasing taxation on tobacco products has the effect of increasing Government revenue while reducing consumption. This is a win-win situation for all of us. Fifth, inclusion of farmers: This is a very important constituency whose rights and health concerns have been largely ignored by the tobacco industry. In this Bill, their health shall be protected and policy on alternative cropping shall be promoted. Those who wish to replace tobacco shall also be assisted. The fact is that most farmers would rather they did not plant tobacco because they have experienced, first hand, a negative health, environmental and economic effect of growing tobacco. This is also a first one in this region. Sixth, it outlaws the sale of tobacco and its products to and by the minors. Children, when exposed to tobacco and its products early in life, stand the danger of getting addicted and thus growing up imprisoned by nicotine. In the process, the longer they are exposed to tobacco and its poisonous chemicals, the higher their chances of dying prematurely. The fact is that if you start smoking early, you get sick sooner and you may, therefore, die much earlier than a non-smoking colleague. Our children need our protection and this Bill provides it in adequate measures. Seventh, the Bill provides guidelines on the sale of tobacco only in packets of, at least, ten sticks. This serves to restrict access by minors and the youth, and protects the very poor from unfair exposure to tobacco products. If we reduce this possibility, then we will get sick less often and spend less on health care. Eighth, it legislates for prominent and factual warning signs on all packets and packages of tobacco products. This ensures that a clearer and focused message is sent to the smoking and non- smoking public at large. The 30 per cent in front and 50 per cent at the back requirement for the size of this warning is within the minimum limits of the FCTC. Ninth, the Bill completely bans advertising, promotion and sponsorship, as this is an avenue used to misinform, especially the youth. These three concepts cannot be separated in action. So, the only way to protect our youth from undue and manipulative influence is to protect them from all forms of advertising and promotion. It is also in keeping with the treaty that Kenya ratified. Tenth, it separates smokers from non-smokers by setting up clearly marked smoking areas. This principle here is to separate tobacco smoke from the majority of Kenyans, who are non- smokers. Eleventh, the Bill also provides a comfortable transition period of nine months. This is to recognise the fact that many players will require time to conform to the new framework and guidelines. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is designed to promote health, and is not meant to be a punitive measure to those who smoke or use other tobacco products. The problem in Kenya is increasing tobacco use, with its increasing health, environmental and societal costs. The facts as they stand today are as follows:- July 5, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2327 (1) The health consequences of tobacco and exposure to tobacco smoke are many and serious. This Bill addresses those consequences by legislating for clear warning signs on packets and packages that include: (a) smoking harms people next to you; (b) tobacco use kills; (c) tobacco harms your unborn baby; (d) tobacco use causes cancer; (e) tobacco use causes heart disease; (f) tobacco use causes lung disease; (g) tobacco use is addictive; (h) these products can cause gum disease and tooth loss; this includes smokeless tobacco products; (i) this product can cause mouth cancer; this is also the same for smokeless tobacco products; (j) this product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes; this, again, is the same for smokeless tobacco products; (k) tobacco use causes impotence; (l) tobacco use causes miscarriage; (m) tobacco use causes infertility in women, and (n) tobacco use causes mental retardation in children. (2) Thirteen per cent of our primary school children smoke. This translates to about one million children below the age of 15 years already \"imprisoned\" in the jail of nicotine. Those children need our protection. (3) The rate at which young girls are taking up this habit is now almost the same as that of boys. This means that the number of women smoking will increase exponentially, and with it come some very unpleasant negative health effects, including unintended abortions, infertility, under- weight children and still births. This is the reality of the use of tobacco products to our reproductive health. (4) Forty-two per cent of students in secondary schools and colleges smoke. To make matters worse, one out of every five of this group are girls. (5) Fifty-seven per cent of students in our universities smoke, yet these are the young men and women who, shortly, will form the backbone of Kenya's leadership in different professional fields. The future of this nation is in very shaky hands. (6) The good news is that the majority of Kenyans do not smoke. Only 2 per cent of women smoke, and 32 per cent of men smoke. In general, therefore, 22 per cent of the people living in Kenya smoke. Unfortunately, they are smoking over seven billion sticks of cigarettes that are sold in this country annually. (7) The health costs related to treating illnesses and diseases caused by exposure to tobacco are increasing every year as the number of smoking people in Kenya increases. The health sector, both public and private, spends over Kshs18 billion annually, treating these diseases, while the revenue from the tobacco industry is about Kshs5.5 billion only. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is only the cost of treatment. We have not yet factored in the cost of absenteeism from work, the cost of looking after the sick by their relatives and friends, social support, missed opportunities and other long-term effects. It does not include environmental costs, including fires caused by cigarette busts, cutting down of trees to cure tobacco, pollution of water sources by the chemicals used in tobacco farming, especially at the nurseries, damage to the soil and infertility of the soil after planting of tobacco, and the effect that the smoke from curing has on the air around the tobacco farms. This does not include the damage caused to the future of our children who are being pulled out of school to tend to the tobacco plant and the curing process. It, certainly, does not include the cost of the new Ministry of Health's initiative to set up clinics that will help current smokers quit the habit. For each shilling we receive from the tobacco industry, we lose three shillings. The cost of sustaining this habit is huge. This has, in effect, led to the greater poverty levels in tobacco growing areas and for smokers, too. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it has now become necessary to establish a comprehensive legal framework, which will provide a solid basis for effective control of tobacco and its products in Kenya. The Tobacco Control Bill, 2007 is such a vehicle. We have a responsibility to this nation to protect its health and wealth. This Bill has been in this House for far 2328 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 5, 2007 too long, and I call upon fellow hon. Members to give it the close attention it deserves. Tobacco comes in many forms, shapes and colours. All these forms are harmful to the health. Tobacco kills over five million people every year worldwide, both smokers and non-smokers. Let us protect our children and place public health above individual and foreign private costs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in that regard, I am tabling the Tobacco Control Bill for Second Reading. I look forward to an informed debate and eventual passing of this Bill by Parliament. Finally, I thank all those who have contributed positively to the realisation of this Bill. Let us pass it and honour the pain and suffering of the many tobacco farmers, users and families who continue to endure the exposure to tobacco and its products. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to move and request Mr. Wamwere to second this Bill."
}