The Department of Health (DOH) has recently inked a memorandum of agreement with Sari-Sari chain of shops, which now sells "Tobacco-Free Fashion" — t-shirts bearing anti-tobacco slogans and caricatures.
Dr. Jessica de Leon, DOH’s advocacy manager for its anti-smoking program, said they expect the "Tobacco-Free Fashion" to introduce a new lifestyle for fashion-conscious Filipinos.
"Smoking has been associated with lifestyle in the wrong context. What we want to do is to correct this and make the people realize that tobacco kills, but before killing you, it will make you ugly," she said.
De Leon explained that the chemicals in a cigarette, when inhaled, destroy collagen, an important component of the skin.
"You tend to develop wrinkles," she said, adding that heavy smokers "tend to look 12 years older than their actual age."
De Leon also said smoking will also make your gums deteriorate, discolor your teeth, and cause bad breath — definite no-no’s for the fashion-conscious.
Another effect of cigarette smoking is that it can cause diseases such as emphysema, a chronic medical disorder of the lungs resulting in breathing impairment and sometimes infection.
"If you’re sick, you don’t look well," De Leon said.
The DOH said that tobacco-related illnesses such as heart disease and lung cancer kill two Filipinos every hour.
The "Tobacco-Free Fashion" is designed to counter tobacco manufacturers’ strategy of depicting cigarette smoking as a "glamorous and sophisticated" thing to do, according to Dr. Eric Domingo, DOH Assistant Secretary for Public Health.
"There is a growing segment of the youth and the women’s sector that is now into smoking. It’s because cigarettes are being marketed as fashionable, so the fashion-conscious will pick up the habit," he said.
The DOH’s move is in response to the call of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the fashion and film industries to stop promoting tobacco products.
DOH expects other fashion outlets to follow Sari-Sari’s lead and sell garments bearing anti-tobacco slogans.
"It’s the theme of WHO for this year. Last year, it was sports because cigarette manufacturers are sponsoring sports events to make their products appear as something that is sporty," Domingo said.
WHO said cigarette companies have been building their image based on the personality of their endorsers.
"Given their huge potential for influencing the public — especially the young people — the film and fashion industries are fertile ground for (the) tobacco industry’s marketing tactics… If a product seems macho or feminine, sophisticated or rugged, sexy or sporty — it is because of the marketing around it," WHO said.
The DOH’s "Tobacco-Free Fashion" program is in line with the recent passage of the Tobacco Regulation Act (Republic Act 9211), which regulates the sale, advertisement, use and sponsoring activities of tobacco products.
The law will be gradually implemented until 2008, when there will be a total advertising ban on tobacco products in the country.
The DOH estimates that 30 percent of Filipinos smoke, but expects the figure to significantly go down if the fashion industry helps in the anti-tobacco campaign.