Protect kids vs vapes, group urges government

MANILA, Philippines — Child rights advocates are calling on the government to return the child protection safeguards against vaping amid the snowballing of support for proposals to ban disposable vapes.

 In a statement, the Child Rights Network (CRN) said it supports calls to ban the sale of disposable vapes in the country, stressing that easy access to these products has worsened underage smoking.

 “However, the government shouldn’t stop there. If the government truly cares about improving vape regulation, it must seriously bring back the child protection safeguards taken away by the pro-tobacco industry Vape Law,” CRN said, referring to Republic Act 11900.

 While the Vape Law was intended to strengthen regulations to discourage minors from using cigarette alternatives, CRN has been criticizing that it lowered the minimum age of access from 21 to 18.

 The group also assailed that vape regulation is handled by the Department of Trade and Industry instead of the Department of Health.

 The government should transfer vape regulation from trade and industry back to health authorities, restore the original minimum age of access to vapes from the current 18 back to 21 and imposing stringent restrictions on flavors, advertising, and packaging, CRN added. 

The 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey shows that 14 percent, or one in every seven Filipino children aged 13 to 15, used e-cigarettes.

 For the fifth time, the Philippines received the “Dirty Ashtray” award for “blocking” global tobacco control efforts during the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control last month.