Tobacco control advocates light candles for dead smokers

SEVENTY five thousand eight hundred forty (75,840) and counting.

These are the number of deaths from tobacco-related diseases since a bill seeking for the enforcement of graphic health warnings on cigarette packs was filed in Congress in Dec. 20, 2007 and the death toll increases by 240 everyday, according to tobacco control advocates.

On All Saints Day, volunteers from different youth, mothers and urban poor groups trooped to the South Cemetery in Manila to light candles and dramatize their demand for stricter tobacco control measures.

"Araw-araw, mahigit dalawang daang Pinoy ang namamatay dahil sa paninigarilyo at karamihan sa kanila ay mga mamamayang mahihirap na nahulog sa adiksyon ng paninigarilyo, (Everyday, more than 200 Filipinos die because of smoking and most of them are the poor who fell victim to cigarette addiction)," said urban poor leader Myrna de Leon of the group Alay Kapwa.

Because of this, tobacco control advocates from Sama-samang Komunidad ng Paco-Pandacan (SKPP), Alay Kapwa, Kapatiran sa Pangkalahatang Pag-unlad (KAPPAG) and members of the Sangguniang Kabataan of Barangay 836 in Pandacan, asked the Arroyo administration to prioritize tobacco control measures including the passage of the Graphic Health Warning Bill now pending in Congress and the Senate.

The group gathered signatures from cemetery visitors who support the immediate passage of the bills.

Graphic health warnings on cigarette packs that show the ill-effects of smoking have been found to be among the most effective ways of curbing tobacco use, specially among the youth. Several countries across the world including the neighboring countries of Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, have already implemented such health warnings.

According to the Department of Health and the World Health Organization, around 240 Filipinos die every day of smoking-related illnesses or about 87,600 deaths every year. Meanwhile, a WHO study found a link between poverty and tobacco use.

The WHO study said that of the 1.3 billion smokers in the world, 84 percent live in developing countries, and that the poor actually smoke the most. Such a habit is directly affecting the total household expenditures, it added.

"Maraming mga naninigarilyo na napapabayaan ang pangunahing pangangailangan ng kanilang mga pamilya dahil lang sa adiksyon sa sigarilyo (Many smokers have neglected the basic needs of their families because of their addiction to tobacco use)," Elenita dela Cruz, Education Assistance Program Coordinator of SKPP, said.

Nearly 60 percent of all Filipino male adults smoke, according to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance of the Philippines (FCAP).

"Smoking and tobacco use, while often seen as a harmless habit by some smokers, push the poor even deeper into a vicious cycle of poverty," lamented dela Cruz.

She also pointed out that tobacco use diverts resources from food and other basic necessities and the adverse effect on the health of family members adds additional strain on the family budget. Thus, poverty can be traced to tobacco use.

Moreover, data from the 2005-2006 Tobacco and Poverty Study in the Philippines done by the UP College of Public Health, National Epidemiology Center of DOH, and WHO, indicated that public health spending on four major diseases related to smoking amount to P276-billion. These are lung cancer, heart attacks, stroke and chronic obstructive lung diseases.

"Ang ginagastos ng gobyerno sa pagpapagamot ng may sakit na dulot sa paninigarilyo ay nagagamit na sana sa mas makabuluhang pangangailan tulad ng pabahay sa mahihirap o sa edukasyon," said Mia Placio, Sangguniang Kabataan leader in Paco, Manila.

She took to task legislators who are blocking the passage of the bill especially in the House of Representatives. Last week, House Speaker Prospero Nograles admitted of the strong lobby efforts in Congress by tobacco companies.

"By blocking the passage of the bill, these legislators are virtually condoning the deaths of tens thousands of Filipinos every year. Likewise, they are depriving us – the youths – from much needed public funds that have been senselessly used on diseases caused by smoking," Placio said.