The Ministry of Health will start a crackdown on popular cosmetics and tobacco-related products used in the nation, including women's lipstick, which he claims is laced with hard drugs, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
Duale told the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana, to deliberate on the newly developed Graphic Health Warnings (GHWs) for tobacco products to aid the government's efforts.
According to the CS, most of these cosmetic products, mainly shipped from China, pose a health risk to the youth and need to be regulated.
The Health CS singled out products such as lipsticks and cosmetics, warning that many of them are not what they appear to be.
“Chairman, I can tell you that those products, mainly from China, are destroying our children. These new products you are talking about are not defined in the current law. You find your daughter putting on lipstick, but it's not lipstick. It's something else. It's a drug,” the CS alleged.
According to Duale, the current legal framework is outdated and ill-equipped to handle the inflow of new products that fall outside traditional definitions of tobacco or narcotics.
Duale revealed that these items were not defined in the current law, making enforcement nearly impossible at both the national and county levels.
''So we must define them, and we must regulate this new thing that is the national and the county governments to have some enforcement and implementation so that they can be held to account from a public health point of view,'' the CS continued.
The CS revealed that there are new warnings designed to address both existing and emerging tobacco and nicotine products, which were not adequately covered under previous regulations.
Among the key objectives of the GHWs are increased public awareness, discouraging initiation among the youth, encouraging cessation, and reducing overall tobacco consumption.
The CS reaffirmed the ministry's commitment to protecting public health through strong tobacco control measures.
While the CS did not reveal when the crackdown will begin, retailers have been warned to be keen on the goods they are selling to consumers.
