Advocates for tobacco control in the country want structures established as smoking zones in three cities in Kenya to be upgraded to international public health standards.
During a press conference yesterday – to appreciate last Friday’s Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the country’s 2014 Tobacco Control Regulations – civil society organisations championing tobacco laws in Kenya said the smoking zones in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru do not meet World Health Organisation standards.
Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA), International Institute for Legislative Affairs (ILA), Consumer Information Network (CIN) congregating at a Nairobi hotel also called on the government to ensure total compliance to the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014.
“We want the government to ensure that the Tobacco Control Act 2007 and now the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 are fully implemented,” said the organisations in a statement read by KETCA coordinator, Thomas Lindi.
The organisations demanded that those charged with the responsibility of implementing and enforcing the law to do their work with speed.
Similarly, Lindi called on the county governments where the smoking zones are established to be improved to come to the standards of WHO requiring that, smoke from those structures do not come out to the public space.
“The smoking zones we have in Nairobi, and this is the same as in Nakuru and Mombasa, are not supposed to be called smoking zones. A lot of innocent Kenyans known as second hand smokers, are inhalingthe smoke,” said Lindi.
WHO standards of smoking zones require that these structures are well ventilated and smoke should not come out into the public space.
