State proposes higher taxes on health-risk products to fund health programmes

The move comes as concerns grow over the declining availability of donor funding for interventions related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
The government has proposed expanding taxation on products linked to health risks, such as sweetened drinks, cigarettes, and alcohol to fund key health programmes.
The move comes as concerns grow over the declining availability of donor funding for interventions related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, which have long been heavily reliant on external support.
More To Read
- Explainer: What you need to know about World Malaria Day 2025
- Congo lab testing confirms deadly disease outbreak was malaria
- Kenya to expand malaria prevention in Turkana with digital monitoring
- Kenya to integrate HIV, TB, malaria treatment into mainstream healthcare
- SC Johnson opens Sh1.3 billion mosquito repellent production line in Nairobi
- Trump administration's funding cuts disrupt key malaria vaccine research
According to Dr Daniel Mwai, the advisor to the Presidential Economic Transformation Team on Health, increasing taxes on products contributing to health risks will help curb their consumption and alleviate the strain on the country’s healthcare system.
“We need to start thinking around innovative channels which we can use to fund the chronic path on the risk factors that continue putting a burden on the country’s healthcare, and therefore a need to have new domestic financing models,” Mwai said during a recent Health Sector Intergovernmental Consultative Forum at the Kenya School of Government.
The rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic respiratory infections has been increasingly linked to lifestyle behaviours.
The health experts said these diseases are now one of the leading causes of health loss in the country.
Mwai said that in addition to poor diet and physical inactivity, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption are significant risk factors for NCDs.
Smoking among men
Smoking rates, particularly among men, remain high in Kenya, contributing to the rise of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
He also pointed out the growing consumption of sweetened drinks, which he believes is directly linked to an increase in chronic illnesses that require costly treatment.
“They expose these populations to chronic illnesses that need to be treated,” Mwai said, suggesting that tax measures could play a role in reducing the consumption of such products.
Mwai called for the monitoring of existing tax programmes, advocating for the redirection of some of the funds collected under national initiatives to support health interventions, particularly as the reality of donor exit becomes more apparent.
He singled out the tobacco fund as one example of a programme that could be utilised to support critical health needs.
Top Stories Today
- Bodyguard, driver were in contact with MP Charles Were’s killers- Police
- Were's murder case: Why LBDA director Ebel Ochieng is seeking magistrate's recusal
- State boosts roads budget to Sh171.9bn in infrastructure push
- Contractors hopeful as state nears end of Sh518.7bn pending bills review
- Government leases four state-owned sugar mills to private firms for 30 years
- Politician Philip Aroko detained for seven days in probe into Were's murder
- Parastatals merger: 3,100 jobs at risk as Treasury plans retirement offers
- Education Ministry nullifies UoN leadership shake-up over legal breaches
- Mwilu had no power to appoint bench in Gachagua impeachment case, court rules
- High Court bars police from investigating extra-judicial killings, abductions
- Were murder case: High Court orders Aroko to be produced on Monday
- Ruto moves to end ‘hakuna dawa’ with Sh10bn boost to KEMSA
- MCSK in turmoil as rivals clash over CEO Mutua’s position
- Over 150 illegal fuel dens demolished in Nairobi’s Industrial Area
- Global food prices climb for third straight month
- Audit flags Sh44.8 billion mystery on eCitizen platform
- AG seeks to block Omtatah’s Sh4.6 trillion debt petition
- UN extends South Sudan peace mission for a year
- State unveils rescue plan for debt-ridden public universities
- CS Wahome slammed for skipping Senate committee seven times