18 million Filipinos 15 and older smoke

After Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated on August 21, 1983, the whole nation shouted “Hindi ka nag-iisa [You are not alone].”

Now more than 26 years later, his son, President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd can also count on the fact that he is not alone where his smoking habit is concerned.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), the country has nearly 18 million Filipino adults 15 years of age and older who are tobacco smokers.

In its 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the NSO said on Monday that 28 percent, or 17.3 million Filipinos of adult age, or 15 years and older, are smokers.

The agency added that 48 percent, or 14.6 million of adult males and 9 percent, or 2.8 million of adult females, are smokers.

Moreover, 23 percent of Filipino adults are daily tobacco smokers: 38 percent for males and 7 percent for females.

“Filipinos mainly smoke cigarettes, which include manufactured cigarettes and hand-rolled cigarettes. Cigarettes are smoked by 47 percent of men and by 9 percent of women,” NSO said.

On the average, male daily smokers consume 11 cigarettes a day while female daily smokers consume seven cigarettes a day.

Among adults who smoked 12 months before the survey, 48 percent made an attempt to quit while only 5 percent made a quit attempt and successfully gave up smoking.

More than one-third, or 37 percent of adults who worked indoors or outdoors with an enclosed area at
their workplace, were exposed to tobacco smoke.

Among adults who used public transportation a month prior to the survey, 55 percent were exposed to second-hand smoke, while among those who visited government buildings or offices, 37 percent were exposed to second-hand smoke.

The Philippines 2009 GATS is a nationally representative household survey of members of the population who are 15 years of age and older.

It was designed to collect information on respondents’ background characteristics; patterns of tobacco use; former/past tobacco consumption; age of initiation of daily smoking; consumption of different tobacco products (cigarettes, pipes, cigars and other smoked tobacco); nicotine dependence; frequency of quit attempts; exposure to second-hand smoke; and knowledge about health effects of smoking among others.

Survey data were collected electronically during personal interviews conducted from September 10 to October 12, 2009.

Funding for the GATS was provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use. Data collection was implemented by the NSO. Other GATS partners include the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CDC Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, RTI International, Department of Health and the National Institutes of Health. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times