Teens are top smokers in RP

One in every five students aged 13 to 15 is the current smoker in the Philippines, according to Dr. Agnes Segarra of teh Department of Health-National Epidemiology Center.

Citing results of the country’s latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey, Segarra also revealed that 22 percent of teenagers are into smoking.

Segarra said there was an increase in the percentage of students who think that boys or girls who smoke have more friends and look more attractive.

She added that one-third of the 5,519 students surveyed or 1,826 thought that boys who smoked had more friends while 19 percent or 1.048 of them thought that girls who smoked had more friends.

“These students feel they are more accepted in a group when they smore,” Segarra told reporters in a media forum on tobacco use held at Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.

She attributed the surge in the number of youth smokers to greater exposure to pro-tobacco advertisements than anti-tobacco messages and noted the decrease in the percentage of students who have seen anti-smoking messages.

While Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2006 has been in placed since 2003, she said most of its provisions remain poorly implemented, and are not yet fully complied.

RA 9211 mandates the elimination of all forms of advertisements of tobacco products except in the point of sale.

She said anti-smoking lessons should be integrated in school curriculum aside from strengthening anti-tobacco messages inside the school campus.

Segarra also lamented the poor enforcement by the local government units of the National Tobacco laws and the World Health Organization-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Further, she cited the lack of political will, coupled with the lack of monitoring and reporting guidelines for offenders of the law, has not favored the tobacco control initiatives in the Philippines.

“LGUs should be encouraged to pass ordinances to support implementation of RA 9211,” said Segarra as she pointed out that LGUs should ensure that the law is enforced within their area of jurisdiction.

The Health Department doctor, likewise, said that based on the survey, majority of the students or 56 percent bought cigarettes in a store, and 64 percent of them were not refused tobacco despite their age.

“Mas madali na ngayong mabili ng mga estudyante ang sigarilyo sa tindahan kasi meron nang 5 sticks per pack bukod sa mabibili ng tingi o per stick,” related Segarra.

She said there should be an advocate for total ban on selling of cigarettes by sticks particularly in schools or sari-sari stores.

It is also the only legal consumer product that can harm everyone exposed to it and it kills up to half of those who use it.

In the Philippines, 10 Filipinos die by the hour due to tobacco-related diseases.

Based on the 2008 WHO study on Tobacco and Poverty in the Philippines, smoking prevalence was highest among the poor.

For the poor households, tobacco spending accounts for 2.6 percent of monthly expenditure higher than education, 1.6 percent and health, 1.3 percent and equal to clothing at 2.6 percent.

For the poorest households, tobacco gets 2.5 percent of monthly family expenditures. It has the biggest share than clothing, 2.3 percent; education, 1.4 percent and health, 0.9 percent. –Macon Ramos-Araneta, Manila Standard Today