ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
June 16, 2014
Philippines may soon make smoking warnings graphic
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — A
Philippine legislative committee has
approved a bill that would compel
cigarette
manufacturers
to
print
illustrations of smoking hazards on
cigarette packs to curb smoking in a
country where tens of thousands die yearly
from tobacco-related diseases.
The committee, composed of both
senators and congressmen, passed the bill
directing the Department of Health to
issue 12 templates of pictures and
illustrations that warn about the dangers
of smoking.
The full Senate and House of
Representatives are expected to formally
pass the bill before it is signed into law by
President Benigno Aquino III, who backed
an earlier “sin tax” law that raised taxes on
tobacco and alcohol products.
The illustrations, which could include
pictures of cancerous lungs and throats,
will occupy the lower half of the front and
back panels of a cigarette pack. The
current warning contains only words,
saying that smoking is dangerous.
Philippine health officials said in 2012
that 17.3 million of the country’s 96 million
people smoke — one of Southeast Asia’s
highest rates — and 87,000 die per year
from tobacco-related diseases.
“This is a big victory for health
GRAPHIC WARNINGS. Health advocates,
including cancer survivors, gather for a rally outside
the Commission on Human Rights office in suburban
Quezon city, northeast of Manila, the Philippines to
push for the inclusion of a legislative measure that
mandates tobacco firms put graphic health warnings
on cigarette packs, in this January 17, 2014 file photo.
A Philippine legislative committee approved a bill on
June 10, 2014 that would compel cigarette manufac-
turers to print illustrations of smoking hazards on ciga-
rette packs to curb smoking in a country where tens of
thousands die yearly from tobacco-related diseases.
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)
advocates,” said Dr. Anthony Leachon,
president of the Philippine College of
Physicians.
Leachon said images of damaged body
parts, such as before-and-after pictures of
a lung ravaged by smoking, will have a
greater impact, especially on non-
smokers.
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The bill also instructs the Department of
Education to include the hazards of
smoking in school curriculum.
In recent years, more than 40 countries
or jurisdictions have introduced cigarette
labels
with
graphic
anti-smoking
warnings. The World Health Organization
said in a survey done in countries with
graphic labels that a majority of smokers
noticed the warnings and more than 25
percent said the warnings led them to
consider quitting.
The Philippine bill follows the passage
in late 2012 of a “sin tax” law, which raised
the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol
products to discourage their use and raise
revenues for health programs.
A recent survey commissioned by the
Department of Health indicated that the
law helped reduce smoking among the
poor and young people, the main targets of
the law.
It said that smoking prevalence among
the very poor dropped from 38 percent in
December 2012 to 25 percent in March this
year. Smoking among people between 18
and 24 also fell from 35 percent to 18
percent during the same period.
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