‘Tobacco and Lung Health’

Every 31st of May, the World Health Organization, partners and health advocates around the world come together in celebrating World No Tobacco Day.

In this year’s celebration, the world will be focusing on ‘Tobacco and Lung Health’. This year’s campaign aim at creating awareness on:

• The devastating impacts that tobacco has in people’s lung health, from cancer to chronic respiratory complications.
• The basic roles that the lungs play for the health and well being of all people

WHO cites that the most effective measure to improve lung health is by reducing tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke. Therefore, WHO is calling upon Governments around the world to engage stakeholders across multiple sectors in tobacco control and also come up with effective policies to cut down tobacco consumption.

Kenya signed and ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – an evidence-based global treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health – in 2004 and later domesticated the treaty by enacting the Tobacco Control Act in 2007 that banned among others smoking in public places and tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS).

As we celebrate this year’s World No Tobacco Day, we call upon the National and County governments to:

• Effectively implement and enforce the smoke-free law provisions of the Tobacco Control Act to protect Kenyans from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
• Effectively implement and enforce provisions of the Act that protects minors from exposure and access to tobacco products.
• Prioritize tobacco control as a gateway to achieving global sustainable development goals (SDGs), Universal Health Coverage (UHC), vision 2030 and largely the government’s Big Four Agenda.