PH delegation to COP10 urged: Stand vs vapes

FORMER senior officials of the Health and Education departments have urged the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) to stand against e-cigarettes or vapes for the sake of the youth.

The call came after the reported increase in the use of e-cigarettes by Filipino children and young people, according to the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.

According to the study, a growing use of vapes among Filipino teens has a 14.1-percent prevalence among 1315 age brackets, which translates into millions of young Filipinos.

Likewise, the study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Global Tobacco Control showed that vapes are flagrantly and widely sold and advertised within 100 meters in 78 percent of schools in the Philippines, despite the prohibition in RA 11900.

“We call on the Philippine COP10 delegation to the WHO FCTC in Panama to affirm our commitments under the FCTC and take the lead in pushing for, supporting, and promoting policies preventing the uptake of all recreational tobacco and nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, to protect present and future generations from the devastating harms of tobacco use and nicotine addiction,” said the former officials in a joint statement issued on Monday.

Former Health officials Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, Dr. Carmencita Reodica, Dr. Manuel Dayrit, Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Dr. Paulyn Rosell Ubial, Atty. Alexander Padilla, Dr. Susan Mercado and Dr. Madeleine Valera, and former Education Department officials Bro. Armin Luistro and Atty. Albert Muyot made the appeal as the Philippine delegation prepared to participate in the COP10 in Panama from Feb. 5 to 10, 2024.

The former executives said that they have warned of the repercussions of watered-down provisions of Republic Act 11900 or the “Vape Regulation Law,” such as lowering the age of access from 21 to 18 years old; delegating regulation to the Department of Trade and Industry rather than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and easing restrictions for vape flavors.

“Transparency and accountability of its policy positions at COP10 should be observed as these will impact domestic and global approaches in tobacco control. The delegation should speak rather than hide, whitewash, or disguise the truth of the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulation on e-cigarettes,” they said in a joint statement.