Tax tobacco more to raise funds for cancer care, lobby groups plead

A man puffs a cigarette during the commemorations of World No Tobacco Day at the University of Nairobi on May 31, 2022. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Cancer patients and health lobby groups have pleaded with the government to raise taxes on tobacco and nicotine products to sustainably finance Kenya's health sector.

They say the sector is chronically underfunded, and the government should reverse the rising burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).