Bad Picture in the Philippines

Here are some fast facts that paint a bad picture in the Philippines:

• 10 Filipinos die by the hour due to tobacco-related diseases or that is 1 Filipino dying every 6 minutes.

• According to the 2003 National Nutrition and Health Survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, 34.8% of adults are current smokers, of which 56.3 are males and 8.6% are females.

• The 2007 Philippine Global Youth Tobacco Survey reported that 22% teenagers currently smoke and that 1 in 5 students aged 13 – 15 smoke. This reflects and increase of 30% over the past 2 years.

• 1/3 of the population is at risk of dying from debilitating diseases and painful deaths due to tobacco use.

• The average Filipino spends approximately 2.6% of the household income on tobacco or an equivalent of PhP144 a month.

• Health costs of approximately PhP 288 Billion are spent annually on 4 tobacco-related diseases – cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, cancer and diabetes.

• In 2003, the Philippines enacted Republic Act (RA) 9211 aimed to: promote smoke-free areas; inform public of the health risks of tobacco use; ban all tobacco advertisement and sponsorship and restrict promotions; regulate labelling of tobacco products; and protect the youth from being initiated to smoking.

• However, the unabated increase in smoking among adolescents and adults reflect weaknesses in the implementation of RA 9211.

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Photo from Friendster

Global Tobacco Epidemic

Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today. It kills: 1 person every 6 seconds; over 5 million this year; more than those of infectious diseases like TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS combined; and 1 billion people this century, unless urgent action is taken.

Tobacco is also the only legal consumer product that can harm everyone exposed to it and it kills up to half of those who use as intended. And unlike many other dangerous substances, tobacco-related diseases usually do not begin for years or decades after tobacco use starts.

Because developing countries are still in the early stages of the tobacco epidemic, they have yet to experience the full impact of tobacco related diseases and death already evident in the wealthier countries where tobacco use has been common for much of the past century.

Tobacco use is common throughout the world due to low prices, aggressive and widespread marketing, lack of awareness about its dangers and inconsistent public policies against its uses.

Most smokers become addicted to tobacco when they are too young to make "informed choices" that will affect their health and life. By the time most smokers are old enough to make informed choices, they are addicted to cigarettes. Cigarettes are addictive in a similar way to heroin or cocaine—and no one doubts that heroin or cocaine traffic calls for government action.

Cigarette smoking is a "communicated" disease, in the words of the World Health Organization. Tobacco companies communicate through their advertising the romance and the social benefits of smoking. People the world over see regulating advertising abuse as a government responsibility.

The unabated increase in smoking among adolescents and adults reflect weaknesses in the implementation of policies and programs to curb the epidemic.

Globalization of the tobacco epidemic restricts the capacity of countries to regulate tobacco through domestic legislation alone and that international coordination of policies is essential. Thus, the WHO introduced the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) as early as 1996. It aimed at protecting present and future generations from the consequences of tobacco. It is the first Public Health Treaty under WHO. With 168 countries signed and 40 country ratifications achieved, the treaty entered into force on February 27, 2005.

The cure for this devastating epidemic is dependent on concerted actions of people in the community, government and civil societies. The WHO, through the FCTC, has developed and is pushing for MPOWER, an acronym that denotes six proven tobacco control policies:

• Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies;
• Protect people from tobacco smoke;
• Offer help to quit tobacco use;
• Warn about dangers of tobacco;
• Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion & sponsorship;
• Raise taxes on tobacco.

“Death in old age is inevitable, but death before old age is not.” – Sir Richard Doll

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Photo from the World Health Organization