Curbing Tobacco Addiction in Kenya: Ethical and Legal Challenges Arising

This chapter seeks to reiterate the continued relevance of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and subsequent national legislation to aid the Kenya government in promoting and protecting public health, while urging the tobacco industry to maintain high ethical standards in the conduct of their business. These attempts are, however, hampered by the unethical conduct of tobacco manufacturers. It has been noted that tobacco companies have, over the years, employed various tactics, including provision of phony statistics and research evidence driven at interfering with the policies adopted to dissuade people from smoking. This amounts to abdication of the ethical standards required of these companies as their conducts foster increased addiction with deleterious health outcomes, in addition to undermining the value of research altogether.