Community and Public Health

Department of Medical Technology

Far Eastern University- Manila

Tobacco Smoking

Key Facts:

• Tobacco smoking is a major preventable cause of premature death and disease worldwide

• Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.

• Around 80% of the world's 1.1 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.

Tobacco Products

• Cigars, cigarillos, and other combustible products (excluding cigarettes)

Any combustible tobacco product that is designed to be smoked – other than cigarettes

• E-cigarettes and other ENDS products

Electronic and/or battery-operated devices designed to deliver an inhaled dose of nicotine or

other substances

• Hookah, shisha, and water pipes

A single or multi-stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavored tobacco or other
products in which the vapor or smoke is passed through a water basin

• Loose tobacco leaf

Including roll your own (RYO) tobacco for hand rolling cigarettes and pipe tobacco.

• Smokeless tobacco products

Tobacco products that are used by means other than smoking, such as chewing, sniffing, or
placing between the teeth and gum.
 Community and Public Health
Department of Medical Technology
Far Eastern University- Manila

Harmful Chemicals of Tobacco

Types of Tobacco Exposure

• Firsthand smoke- consuming tobacco products directly

• Secondhand smoke- smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
• Thirdhand smoke- invisible tobacco “dust” (or chemical) that settles in the environment and
stays there even after a cigarette has been put out.

Burden of Tobacco Smoking

Economic Impact of Tobacco

• Although government revenue from tobacco taxes is about PhP23 billion annually

• Economic losses due to productivity and health care costs of the top 4 leading NCDs (CA, CVD,
COPD and Diabetes) are conservatively estimated at PhP 149 billion annually.

Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease

• Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular
disease.

• Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower.

Smoking and Respiratory Disease

• Tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse.

 Community and Public Health
Department of Medical Technology
Far Eastern University- Manila

• Smoking causes about 80% (or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD).

• Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers.

Smoking and Cancer

• Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.

• Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body.

• Smoking also increases the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in cancer patients and
survivors.

Prevalence of Tobacco Use

• 2013: 1 in 4 adults are current smokers.

• -men smoke 11.3 cigarettes per day

o -women smoke 7.0 cigarettes per day

• Average age of initiation of smoking among ever daily smokers

o -17.4 years for men

o -19.1 years for women
• 2009: 36.9% (6.1 million) Filipino workers were exposed Secondhand Smoke at work.

Progress in Reducing Tobacco Use in the Philippines based on GATS

• increase the tax on tobacco products on an incremental basis

• development and implementation by LGU of tobacco ordinances compliant with the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)

• development of a recognition system “Red Orchid Awards for 100% Tobacco Free Environment”
for LGU, government agencies and hospitals complying with FCTC obligations

• placement of graphic health information on billboards, tarpaulins, and posters

• development and implementation of the National Tobacco Control Strategy (2011-2016) to

accelerate implementation of FCTC

• implementation of the total prohibition of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship by

local government units.

Laws and Policies for Tobacco Control

The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003
(Republic Act 9211)

• Promotion of a healthful environment

 Community and Public Health
Department of Medical Technology
Far Eastern University- Manila

• Provision of information to the public on health risks associated with cigarette smoking and
tobacco use
• Regulation and subsequent banning of all tobacco advertisements and sponsorships
• Regulation of placing health warning labels on tobacco products
• Prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to minors
• Provision of assistance and encouragement for Filipino tobacco farmers to cultivate alternative
agricultural crops to prevent economic dislocation
• Creation of an Interagency Committee on Tobacco (IAC‐Tobacco) to oversee the implementation
of the provisions of this Act.

The Sin Tax Reform Law

(Republic Act 10351)

• It was signed into law on December 12, 2012 in Malacañang (under the Aquino administration)

• It helps finance the Universal Health Care program of the government

The Graphic Health Warnings Law

(Republic Act 10643)

• It was signed into law on July 15, 2014.

• The purposes of the law are to:

- Include graphic health warnings that effectively warn of the devastating effects of tobacco use
and exposure to second‐hand smoke

- Remove misleading or deceptive numbers or descriptors like “low tar”, “light”, “ultralights” or
“mild” which convey or tend to convey that a product or variant is healthier, less harmful or
safer

Department of Education Department Order No. 33 s 2003

• Part of Youth Smoking Prevention Program

• This order prohibits smoking and the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products inside public
and private school campuses, buildings, offices, including the premises and buildings of the
division, regional and national offices.

• Executive Order No. 26 s. 2017It was signed by Pres. Duterte last May 16, 2017

• “Providing for the establishment of smoke-free environments in public and enclosed spaces”

WHO GLOBAL ACTION PLAN

Vision

- A world free of the avoidable burden of NCDs.

Goal
 Community and Public Health
Department of Medical Technology
Far Eastern University- Manila

- To reduce the preventable and avoidable burden of morbidity, mortality and disability due to NCDs by
means of multisectoral collaboration and cooperation at national, regional and global levels, so that
populations reach the highest attainable standards of health and productivity at every age and those
diseases are no longer a barrier to well-being or socioeconomic development.

References:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco

https://www.who.int/philippines/news/feature-stories/detail/who-philippines-marks-world-no-
tobacco-day-increased-tobacco-tax-decreased-tobacco-death-

https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/kmcd/GATS-PHL2016-Executive%20Summary_13Mar2017.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.ht
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