The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region has one of the world’s lowest tobacco-use prevalence rates. In 2025, about 8.9 per cent of people aged 15 and above were projected to use tobacco, meaning roughly nine in 10 adults did not. This achievement reflects decades of tobacco-control laws, taxation and public education.
Against this backdrop, a fundamental question arises: if vaping is intended to reduce harm among existing smokers, why are these products marketed to the much larger population that does not use tobacco?
Harm reduction should be measured by fewer cases of disease, disability and premature death, not product switching or sales.
Nicotine remains highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, raise heart rate and blood pressure, and affect a developing baby during pregnancy. E-cigarette aerosols also contain fine particles, flavouring chemicals and metals that can damage the lungs. Nicotine pouches carry risks, including gum irritation, dependence and accidental poisoning among young children.
Evidence that e-cigarettes can help some smokers quit comes largely from controlled studies involving willing participants, defined products and professional support. That differs sharply from commercial markets where products are widely advertised, sold in numerous flavours and some-times supplied without adequate age checks or counselling.
Similarly, Sweden’s experience with alternative nicotine products cannot automatically be replicated in Kenya. Differences in smoking histories, culture, income and regulatory capacity matter. Evidence of benefits for individual smokers under controlled conditions does not prove that expanding commercial nicotine markets will improve population health.
Policymakers must also scrutinise who funds the research used to shape regulation. Kenya is a Party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Article 5.3 requires governments to protect public health policies from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry. Funding, study design and potential conflicts of interest should therefore be dis-closed.
Marketing tactics, including celebrity endorsements, music festivals, motorsport sponsorships and sweet flavours, raise further concerns about attracting young people and non-smokers. For someone who has never smoked, vaping is not a transition away from cigarettes but the introduction of a new health risk and potential nicotine dependence.
Kenya should strengthen regulation of emerging nicotine products. Any vaping products intended to support smoking cessation should be used within controlled, time-limited programmes with appropriate professional support.
Ultimately, the question is whether promoting vaping will reduce nicotine-related disease and death across the population. Until independent evidence demonstrates that benefit outweighs the risks of new addiction and prolonged dependence, commercial expansion should not automatically be presented as harm reduction.