Tobacco control research in Kenya: the existing body of knowledge

This review examines the existing tobacco control research done in the country. It further identifies key gaps present in research and gives recommendations on priority research areas required to implement effective tobacco control programmes. Published literature, technical reports and reports by the Ministry of Health were reviewed. It included studies that measure tobacco use and its effects, monitor progress of tobacco control, or articles that are discussing tobacco control policy. The review was conducted in January 2013 and included 18 papers. There are six studies that assessed the prevalence of current tobacco consumption which yielded prevalence's of between 3.8%-19%. Only one study tried to determine an association between Tobacco use and Health. Studies that monitored progress of legislation indicated that the country lacked coordinated efforts for tobacco control, enforcement was weak and monitoring of the existing tobacco legislation was poor. This review has demonstrated that Kenya has made efforts to generate knowledge on tobacco control through research. However there is lack of research that demonstrates the effects of tobacco consumption on health and studies that detail the impact of the various tobacco control interventions.