Pres. Arroyo to ratify anti-smoking agreement

Outgoing Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit had a very valid parting statement. He said, "Prevent new smokers and help current smokers kick the habit." What he is actually trying to do is to save the lives of the two to three Filipinos who die from tobacco related illnesses every hour. That is 72 lives a day. He also mentioned that the Philippine Ratification document for the International Anti-Smoking Treaty is just awaiting the signature of Pres. Arroyo. Once that is done, the Philippines becomes a "state party" to the convention, which will commit us to abide by its rules.

In the United States, cigarette smoking is the leading preventable disease and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists urged to officially list it as a disease. And in Chicago, a study showed that smoking more than a pack a day, doubles the risk of a person’s developing cataracts. Director General Gro Harlem Bruntland of the World Health Organization said that smoking was probably the most important cause of death in Europe and added that by the year 2010, tobacco, will be the greatest global disease burden. It is the worst form of environmental pollution.

We are glad to say that in the Philippines, Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay has taken the initiative to fully implement the National Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 towards a "smoke-free" Philippines. He has officially requested the Department of Health to consider Makati as the pilot area for the establishment of "smoking cessation centers." This is very important because it has been established that cigarette smoke exhaled by smokers and inhaled by non-smokers is even more dangerous than the cigarette smoke inhaled by the smokers. In short, second-hand tobacco smoke is even more dangerous than first hand tobacco smoke.

Binay said that the establishment of smoking cessation centers is the government’s ultimate touch to regulate smoking by protecting the health of non-smokers. City Ordinance No. 2002-090 bans smoking in all public conveyances and enclosed areas. However, it has adopted a realistic approach by allowing public establishments to designate certain areas where smokers can indulge in their vice.

We have no doubt that in the future, tobacco smoking will be a thing of the past. But it will take time. In the meantime, what we must do is to urge all smokers to quit their vice for their own health’s sake and prevent the young from becoming future smokers. There is no doubt that we are winning the war against smoking. This is reflected by the fact that many farmers have shifted from planting tobacco to cultivating other crops.