I have just attended a Media Forum on Tobacco Control in the Philippines in Puerto Galera and here are some of the things I found out:
• 10 Filipinos die by the hour due to tobacco-related diseases.
• The country’s current smokers are: 34.8% of adults; 56.3% of adult males; 8.6% of adult females; 22% teenagers; and 1 in 5 students aged 13-15.
• According to the World Tobacco Atlas (2008), the Philippines is in 9th place among the top 20 countries with current male smokers. This is already a slight improvement from 2006 statistics that placed the country in the 6th spot.
• Meanwhile, women smokers in the country are already in the 16th place among the top 20 countries. This data is worse compared to the 2006 statistics where the Philippines was in the 26th spot.
• And the Philippines ranked 14th among the world’s largest market for tobacco products.
Tobacco use is common in the country due to low prices, aggressive and widespread marketing, lack of awareness about its dangers and inconsistent public policies against its uses. The unabated increase in smoking among adolescents and adults reflect weaknesses in the implementation of policies and programs to curb the epidemic.
Since December 2007, legislative bills have been filed in both Houses of Philippine Congress that will mandate the use of no less than picture warnings instead of text warnings, occupying no less than 50% of both the front and back sides of cigarette packages. The bills are aimed at presenting a more accurate depiction of real life debilitating diseases caused by tobacco smoking through strong warning messages in pictures. The bills are still being deliberated and are obviously met with strong opposition from the tobacco industry, using tactics to kill the bill by influencing legislators, particularly the northern block in the House of Representatives, where most of the tobacco plantations in the Philippines are found.
Some senators who are now “presidentiables” as well as some Cabinet secretaries are even cradling tobacco companies by accepting their donations for government projects. This goes to show that the Philippine government is in a
“state of schizophrenia” where in it does not know anymore which one to protect – their own hidden agenda, the national economy or public health.
It has been said in many print and broadcast commentaries that the government acts promptly, to the point of being overacting already, in issues like ebola reston virus in pigs, salmonella-laced peanut butter and the Influenza A (H1N1) as if these are causes for the end of the world. Meanwhile, the government is perennially neglecting the important public health issue and turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to 10 Filipinos dying by the hour because of tobacco and smoking.
I have just attended a Media Forum on Tobacco Control in the Philippines in Puerto Galera and here are some of the things I found out:
• 10 Filipinos die by the hour due to tobacco-related diseases.
• The country’s current smokers are: 34.8% of adults; 56.3% of adult males; 8.6% of adult females; 22% teenagers; and 1 in 5 students aged 13-15.
• According to the World Tobacco Atlas (2008), the Philippines is in 9th place among the top 20 countries with current male smokers. This is already a slight improvement from 2006 statistics that placed the country in the 6th spot.
• Meanwhile, women smokers in the country are already in the 16th place among the top 20 countries. This data is worse compared to the 2006 statistics where the Philippines was in the 26th spot.
• And the Philippines ranked 14th among the world’s largest market for tobacco products.
Tobacco use is common in the country due to low prices, aggressive and widespread marketing, lack of awareness about its dangers and inconsistent public policies against its uses. The unabated increase in smoking among adolescents and adults reflect weaknesses in the implementation of policies and programs to curb the epidemic.
Since December 2007, legislative bills have been filed in both Houses of Philippine Congress that will mandate the use of no less than picture warnings instead of text warnings, occupying no less than 50% of both the front and back sides of cigarette packages. The bills are aimed at presenting a more accurate depiction of real life debilitating diseases caused by tobacco smoking through strong warning messages in pictures. The bills are still being deliberated and are obviously met with strong opposition from the tobacco industry, using tactics to kill the bill by influencing legislators, particularly the northern block in the House of Representatives, where most of the tobacco plantations in the Philippines are found.
Some senators who are now “presidentiables” as well as some Cabinet secretaries are even cradling tobacco companies by accepting their donations for government projects. This goes to show that the Philippine government is in a “state of schizophrenia” where in it does not know anymore which one to protect – their own hidden agenda, the national economy or public health.
It has been said in many print and broadcast commentaries that the government acts promptly, to the point of being overacting already, in issues like ebola reston virus in pigs, salmonella-laced peanut butter and the Influenza A (H1N1) as if these are causes for the end of the world. Meanwhile, the government is perennially neglecting the important public health issue and turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to 10 Filipinos dying by the hour because of tobacco and smoking.