The National Taxpayers Association conference highlighted tobacco taxation as both a public health and fiscal policy issue, calling for stronger coordination across government ministries and a more responsive approach to emerging tobacco and nicotine products

Ogweno Stephen participated in the 4th Tobacco Taxation Conference organised by the National Taxpayers Association (NTA), joining policymakers, advocates and other stakeholders in discussions on how Kenya can strengthen tobacco control through taxation, coordinated government action and greater attention to emerging tobacco and nicotine products. For Ogweno Stephen, a health advocate working across public health, noncommunicable disease prevention and tobacco control, one of the strongest messages from the conference was that reducing tobacco-related harm cannot remain the responsibility of the health sector alone.

Tobacco Control Is Bigger Than the Ministry of Health

One of the central themes emerging from the conference was the need to recognise tobacco control as a whole-of-government responsibility.

The health consequences of tobacco use are naturally associated with the Ministry of Health, but effective tobacco control touches many other parts of government.

Taxation involves institutions responsible for finance and revenue. The regulation of products and businesses intersects with trade and commerce. Advertising and marketing may involve communications and consumer protection institutions. Enforcement involves regulatory and law-enforcement agencies, while education and youth protection require engagement beyond the traditional health sector.

This means that strong tobacco control requires different ministries and agencies to work towards common objectives rather than operating independently.

For Ogweno Stephen, this is an important public health lesson.

Many of the major drivers of noncommunicable diseases originate outside hospitals and clinics. Health outcomes are shaped by taxation, commerce, food systems, marketing, education, urban environments and regulation.

If governments want to prevent disease rather than simply treat its consequences, public health considerations must therefore extend across government.

Why Tobacco Taxation Matters for Public Health

Tobacco taxation sits at an important intersection between health and fiscal policy.

By increasing the price of tobacco products, taxation can influence consumption while simultaneously generating public revenue.

From a public health perspective, however, taxation should be understood as more than a mechanism for raising money.

Its success should also be measured by whether it contributes to reduced tobacco consumption, prevents initiation among young people and ultimately reduces tobacco-related disease and premature mortality.

This is why discussions about tobacco taxation need to bring public health advocates, economists, government institutions, researchers and civil society into the same conversation.

Each brings a different perspective on how taxation works and how its impact should be assessed.

A Whole-of-Government Response to Tobacco

The conference reinforced the importance of coordination between the health, finance, commerce and other relevant sectors.

Without this coordination, tobacco control policies can become fragmented.

One part of government may be attempting to reduce tobacco consumption while another considers tobacco products primarily through the lens of taxation, investment or commerce.

A stronger approach requires a shared understanding that tobacco-related disease creates consequences across society.

The burden affects individuals and families, but it also places pressure on health systems, reduces productivity and creates long-term economic costs.

For Ogweno Stephen, whose public health work consistently connects NCD prevention with wider policy and health-system questions, this reinforces the need for health to be considered in decisions made well beyond the Ministry of Health.

Emerging Tobacco and Nicotine Products Require New Advocacy

Another significant concern raised during the conference was the changing tobacco and nicotine product environment.

Tobacco control can no longer focus exclusively on conventional cigarettes.

New and emerging products continue to change the market, creating new challenges for taxation, regulation, public communication and youth protection.

These developments require public health advocates to remain informed and responsive.

Policies developed around traditional tobacco products may need to be reviewed as new products, marketing approaches and consumption patterns emerge.

For Stephen, this is particularly important in relation to young people.

Products that are packaged, marketed or communicated differently can change perceptions of risk. Digital platforms can also create new channels through which products and messages reach younger audiences.

Public health advocacy must therefore evolve alongside the market it is attempting to regulate.

Protecting Young People From a Changing Tobacco Environment

Youth protection is an important part of the wider tobacco control agenda.

Preventing initiation is one of the most effective ways of reducing the long-term health burden associated with tobacco and nicotine use.

However, prevention requires more than awareness campaigns.

Young people live within environments shaped by product accessibility, affordability, marketing, social influence and increasingly digital communication.

Tax policy therefore forms one component of a larger prevention ecosystem.

When combined with strong regulation, health education, enforcement and restrictions on marketing, taxation can contribute to an environment in which tobacco use becomes less accessible and less attractive.

This complements Ogweno Stephen’s work through Stowelink Foundation, where young people have consistently been engaged not simply as beneficiaries of health interventions but as advocates capable of contributing to tobacco control and broader NCD prevention.

Public Health Advocacy Must Keep Pace With Industry Change

The conference also highlighted why advocacy cannot remain static.

Markets evolve.

Products evolve.

Marketing strategies evolve.

The public health community therefore needs the capacity to identify emerging developments early and respond with evidence, policy engagement and appropriate regulation.

This requires investment in monitoring and research, but also strong networks between organisations working in tobacco control.

Stephen’s recent participation in tobacco industry monitoring initiatives and youth tobacco control coalitions reflects this broader need for coordinated and informed advocacy.

The objective is not simply to respond to individual products after they become widespread. It is to develop public health systems capable of anticipating and responding to changes in the tobacco and nicotine environment.

Connecting Tobacco Taxation With Universal Health Coverage

The discussion around tobacco taxation also has important implications for Kenya’s Universal Health Coverage agenda.

UHC is often discussed in terms of access to healthcare and the financing of treatment.

But sustainable Universal Health Coverage also depends on preventing avoidable disease.

Tobacco use contributes to a range of noncommunicable diseases that can require long-term and expensive care. Preventing tobacco-related disease therefore reduces future pressure on both households and the health system.

For Ogweno Stephen, this connection between prevention and healthcare financing is particularly important.

Countries should not have to choose between improving access to treatment and investing in prevention. A sustainable health system needs both.

Fiscal policies that reduce exposure to major NCD risk factors can therefore become part of the wider architecture supporting Universal Health Coverage.

From Tobacco Tax Policy to Health Policy

The 4th Tobacco Taxation Conference demonstrated that debates around tobacco taxation are ultimately debates about the kind of health system and society Kenya wants to build.

The question is not merely what tax rate should apply to a product.

The wider questions are whether taxation discourages harmful consumption, whether regulation keeps pace with emerging products, whether young people are sufficiently protected, and whether different parts of government are working towards compatible public health objectives.

For Ogweno Stephen, these discussions reinforce the importance of approaching tobacco control through a systems lens.

As a Kenyan health advocate working across public health and NCD prevention, his participation reflects a growing focus on the policies and commercial environments that influence health long before someone reaches a healthcare facility.

Stronger Tobacco Control Requires Collective Action

The key message from the conference was ultimately one of shared responsibility.

The Ministry of Health cannot address tobacco-related harm alone. Civil society cannot do it alone. Tax authorities, researchers or advocates cannot do it alone either.

Effective tobacco control requires coordinated action across health, finance, commerce, regulation, research and communities.

It also requires constant adaptation as new tobacco and nicotine products emerge.

For Ogweno Stephen and the broader public health community, the opportunity is to ensure that taxation remains connected to its ultimate health objective: reducing tobacco consumption, preventing disease and protecting current and future generations from tobacco-related harm.

The 4th Tobacco Taxation Conference therefore provided an important platform for strengthening not only Kenya’s approach to tobacco taxes, but also the wider coalition needed to ensure that fiscal policy, regulation and public health increasingly work together.