Last February 22, the Philippine Senate passed a bill popularly referred to as Stop for Health, meaning Stop Tobacco and Other Products for Health. The bill intends to enforce some measures that will give meaning to the Health Department's anti-smoking cam-paign.
The bill will make it mandatory for all cigarette and tobacco products to indicate on their package or container a printed warning on the health hazards of cigarette or tobacco use. In Kenya, anti-smoking activitists are demanding that such signs carry a very strong warning such as "Smoking Kills" and that said warning must cover at least 30 percent of the package. This applies also to advertising space. In Canada, horror photographs are the new weapons in the government's battle for the hearts and minds of their tobacco-addicted population. "Smoking Kills," is printed in bold black letters on every cigarette pack. Not satisfied with this, Canadian Minister of Health Allan Rock wants to upgrade the warning sign to "Smoking Can Cause A Slow and Painful Death!" supplemented by four gory motif consisting of: a cancerous lung, the amputated leg of a smoker, clogged arteries which can induce a stroke and a close-up picture of cancer of the mouth.
Poland is considering taking even more drastic measures against smoking. Among the measures being considered by their Senate are: the banning of all forms of tobacco advertisements; actors and actresses cannot be portrayed smoking on the stage or on the screen; the outlawing of smoking in pharmacies, all forms of public transport including one's own private car.
In tackling the tobacco problem, we must face three facts. First, is that the Director Genral of the World Health Organization considers smoking as the Number One health problem. We have 34 million smokers in the Philippines. Second, is that we are a tobacco-producing nation. So we must take early steps to find a substitute crop for our tobacco farmers. Third and last, is that no matter what drastic steps we take, we will not succeed in eliminating smoking overnight. Former President Fidel V. Ramos was popularly known as "Tabako." President Estrada is a heavy smoker.
The Senate should be congratulated for taking the initial steps to tackle our Number One Health menace. It is a measure that seeks to improve the health of 34 million Filipino smokers.