Nairobi's shisha users have received a warning after Governor Johnson Sakaja reinstituted enforcement of the herb.
It has come to light that despite being banned in the country in 2017, Shisha (Hookah) items are still being sold and used at nightlife establishments.
The county administrator saw this and has since approved a new round of enforcement of the ban.
The County Public Health Chief Officer Tom Michira Nyakaba instructed the Head of the Tobacco Control Unit in a letter dated January 13, 2023, to coordinate with the pertinent departments to guarantee compliance as required by the Public Health Act, Cap 242, and the relevant tobacco control statutes.
Did you read this?
"Instead of the correspondence from Office of The Clerk, County Assembly Ref: NCCA/SC4ISC/CORR/2022/03 (copy attached) to the County Secretary, and onward transmission to this office, you are at this moment instructed to take necessary enforcement action as anticipated under the Public Health Act, Cap 242 and the relevant tobacco control laws," the letter read.
Nairobi MCAs urged Sakaja to shut down locations with shisha smoking areas in October 2022.
The MCAs claimed that shisha was still in the market in various nightclubs under the direction of the County Assembly Health Committee.
Shisha is a fruit-flavoured tobacco product wrapped in foil and roasted over charcoal in a glass-bottomed water pipe.
Inhalation occurs after the tobacco smoke has passed through a water chamber.
Cleopa Mailu, the health minister at the time, outlawed shisha use in December 2017 on the grounds that it promoted the sale of dangerous narcotics.
Kenya joined Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda as the fourth nation in East Africa to outlaw the use of shisha.
According to the World Health Organization, the amount of smoke smoked during an hour-long shisha session is reportedly similar to smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes.
Anthony Muthemba, the chief of Nairobi's tobacco control unit, reported in 2021 that there had been significant resistance to and interference with the execution of the ban.
People congregate at lounges, cafes, and pubs to smoke shisha. However, some prefer to do it at home.
E-Shisha is another option; its smoking is at temperatures below 45 degrees.
Lung and mouth cancers, heart problems, and other catastrophic disorders result from shisha use.
It provides roughly the same amount of nicotine as cigarette smoking, which could result in tobacco dependence.
Shisha smoke carries the same risks as passive smoking.
