Cancer survivors welcome ‘truth in ads’ order
Cancer survivors yesterday welcomed a major development in the anti-tobacco campaign as big tobacco companies in the United States are now compelled to tell the truth about the dangers of smoking in compliance to a federal court order 11 years ago.
Starting Nov. 26, American tobacco companies led by Philip Morris USA had ads in 50 print and online media revealing the truth about the harmful effects of smoking. The corrective statements stemmed from a federal court decision in 2006 which found tobacco companies guilty of violating racketeering laws and engaging in decades-long conspiracy to defraud the public about the dangers of tobacco consumption and the way they are marketed to children.
“The corrective statements only confirmed what the international health community has been saying all these years – that tobacco companies used deceit in marketing and that their products are nothing but deadly,” New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) President Emer Rojas said
“While this is a step forward in the fight against smoking it’s also been overdue mainly because big tobacco was able to delay compliance for 11 years. Meanwhile, they continued and still continue this pattern of deception especially in developing countries like the Philippines where tobacco control measures are weak and compromised,” Rojas said, in behalf of the group composed of cancer survivors and persons with disabilities.
The NVAP leader said as the tobacco industry loses its grip in the West as it continues to target developing countries such as the Philippines to increase sales.
“This order should inspire our public officials to demand accountability from tobacco companies and implement policies that will protect public health against the industry’s business interests,” noted Rojas, who is a laryngeal cancer survivor and a former chain smoker himself.
Despite a landmark legislation amending the sin tax on tobacco in 2012 the Philippines remains to have one of the world’s cheapest cigarette products and the lowest tobacco tax, he stated; adding that there is a need to infuse a fresh increase in tobacco tax to continue reducing the number of smoking Filipinos and funnel revenues to finance public health objectives.
To note, the 2015 Global Adult Tobacco Survey showed that the number of smoking Filipinos aged 15 and above went down from 17 million in 2009 to 15.9 million three years after the start of implementation of the Sin Tax Law.
Rojas warned that failure to further increase the sin tax would result to 200,000 new smokers and 2,000 avoidable deaths from smoking-related diseases.