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Curbing Tobacco Addiction in Kenya: Ethical and Legal Challenges Arising

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Addiction in South and East Africa

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Abstract

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law and Politics, University of Cardiff, Cardiff, UK

    Smith Ouma

  2. School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Jane Wathuta

  3. Institute for Family Studies & Ethics, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya

    Jane Wathuta

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  1. Smith Ouma
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  2. Jane Wathuta
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Correspondence to Jane Wathuta .

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  1. Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi

    Yamikani Ndasauka

  2. Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi

    Grivas Muchineripi Kayange

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Ouma, S., Wathuta, J. (2019). Curbing Tobacco Addiction in Kenya: Ethical and Legal Challenges Arising. In: Ndasauka, Y., Kayange, G. (eds) Addiction in South and East Africa . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13593-5_17

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