Health expert says smoke, not nicotine, causes deaths

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO-- Inhalation of smoke, not nicotine, is the culprit that causes smoking related deaths and diseases according to a Canadian health exp er t .

“The nicotine itself is not the problem. The global health catastrophe we face is due to the way it’s delivered. In short, for anyone wishing to tackle the global toll of 20,000 lives a day lost due to cigarette smoking, we need to remember just four words: ‘it’s the smoke, stupid’,” Prof. David T. Sweanor, chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Health Law, Policy & Ethics at the University of Ottawa said.

He stressed that contrary to popular belief, nicotine is not the substance that causes these deaths. “There have been many decades of research on the health effects of cigarette smoking, and we have known since at least the 1970s that the primary cause of the cancers, heart and lung disease is the repeated inhalation of smoke,” he said.

The professor made the distinction to differentiate the risk profile of non-combustible alternatives (NCAs) like vapes, heated tobacco products (HTPs) and oral products like Sweden’s snus which deliver nicotine without burning tobacco. He said by eliminating combustion or the burning process, these innovative products provide smokers less harmful alternatives to smoking.

Sweanor said the human body is simply not desi gned

“These medical staff are from the City Health Office and Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center,” Calaguas said.

Mayor Lazatin also shared that the city government is planning to open a third vaccination area in Sapalibutad Elementary School, which is expected to serve 1,000 Angelen~ os a day.

The city government is conducting inoculation at the CCA to priority groups A1 or the health workers; A2 or the elderly; and A3 also known as persons with comorbidities or those with existing health conditions.

Records from the vaccination center show that 4,905 from the mentioned priority groups are already fully vaccinated, while 23,926 received their first dose of vaccine.

The vaccines administered -- Astrazeneca and Sinovac -- were initially donated by the Department of Health (DOH).

The city government is still waiting for the arrival of the purchased vaccines, using the P203,814,384.35 allocated budget.

Mayor Lazatin did not push through with the planned loan for the purchase of vaccines since the city has enough revenue allocated in the city’s Supplemental Budget Number 1.

The ongoing vaccination being conducted at the CCA is strictly via schedule based on the data gathered in the house-to-house survey and online registration. Walk-ins are not allowed.

To date, 25 out of 33 barangays have been surveyed by the deployed teams from the city government, headed by Gender and Development Officer Mina Cabiles.

Lazatin is urging his constituents to do the online registration at angelescity.gov.ph and to participate in the house-to-house survey in order to build an updated database for the city’s Covid-19 vaccination.