Government execs, workers warned anew vs smoking

MANILA, Philippines – The Civil Service Commission (CSC) reminded government officials and employees of the agency’s stance against smoking in the bureaucracy as World No Tobacco Day was celebrated yesterday and as No Smoking Month begins today.

The CSC, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), earlier released a joint directive encouraging all government offices to participate in various activities in line with the celebration.

The order also included the reiteration of CSC Memorandum Circular No. 17 issued in 2009 on “Smoking Prohibition based on 100% Smoke Free Policy” and the CSC-DOH Joint Memorandum Circular 2010-01 on “Protection of the Bureaucracy Against Tobacco Industry Interference,” which is considered a landmark policy that limits the interaction between the government and the tobacco industry.

World No Tobacco Day is an annual international celebration hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use.

This year’s theme in the Philippines aims to garner support for the Graphic Health Warnings (GHW) Law, which took effect last March 3.

Under the GHW Law, all cigarette manufacturers are required to replace the colorful packaging of their cigarette packs with pre-approved graphic health warnings that show the adverse effects of cigarette smoking to health.

The CSC said all cigarette manufacturers must observe full compliance to this law by Nov. 4, 2016. – With Janvic Mateo, Mayen Jaymalin

The National No Smoking Month which comes immediately after the World No Tobacco Day is a month-long event which was declared an annual activity under Proclamation No. 183 in 1993.

It seeks to urge the country’s smokers to kick the habit and non-smokers not to start smoking.

According to the WHO, smoking remains as one of the biggest killers in the world, with at least five million lives claimed by tobacco-related diseases worldwide every year.

Statistics show that the prevalence of deaths caused by tobacco in the Philippines is similarly high, with 240 Filipinos dying every day.

“The CSC strongly advocates against smoking because it does not only put the smoker’s health in danger but it also poses harm to the environment,” CSC commissioner Robert Martinez said.

Stricter implementation

Several student and youth-led organizations yesterday joined in the annual commemoration of World No Tobacco Day and called for stricter implementation of anti-tobacco measures in the country.

Members of the National Youth for Sin Tax Movement (NYFSTM), which were among those who pushed for the passage of the Sin Tax and the Graphic Health Warning laws, said there is a need to ensure these laws are properly implemented.

“Targeting a leading preventable cause of death such as tobacco has always been a continuing struggle for health practitioners,” Johna Mandac, NYFSTM co-convenor and member of the Asian Medical Students’ Association, said in a statement.

“We recognize that the fight continues for the proper implementation of these laws and for the passage of other public health policies,” Mandac said.

Leo Rivera, another co-convenor of the movement and a member of the UP Economics Towards Consciousness, said efforts – particularly the passage of the measures – have led to significant improvements of the country’s health indicators.

Plain packaging

Meanwhile, anti-smoking advocates in the country are eyeing a change in the packaging of tobacco products.

Ulysses Dorotheo, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance project director, said they are hoping that the new Congress under president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will push for the enactment of a measure allowing plain tobacco packaging.

“All that is needed is to pass legislation on plain packaging even if the current Graphic Health Warning Law is not yet being fully implemented,” Dorotheo said.

He noted that under the GHW law, the Department of Health is allowed to propose a new template on packaging a year after its implementation.

The GHW law is set to be fully implemented in November and by then, all cigarettes being sold in the country shall display graphic pictures on the health risks of smoking.

While the Philippines is preparing for full implementation of the GHW Law, Dorotheo said other countries are set to adopt a policy on plain packaging in a bid to curb tobacco-related deaths and diseases.

Health policy professor Mike Daube said the plain packaging policy enabled Australia to significantly reduce sales of cigarettes and pushed down the average number of smokers from 111 to 96. – With Janvic Mateo, Mayen Jaymalin