FOR A MOMENT, let’s focus on another looming “epidemic”.
A new study monitoring youth tobacco use reveals worrying statistics on the prevalence of use, lax regulations, and wide availability of tobacco products including e-cigarettes.
The results of the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), which was released only recently, revealed that there is a higher prevalence of use of e-cigarettes than the use of any other tobacco products among Filipino students aged 13 to 15 years.
About 14.1% – or one in seven – students aged 13 to 15 said that they are currently using e-cigarettes. Overall, about one in eight students of the same age group (12.5%) are currently using various tobacco products. One in four (24.5%), meanwhile, have tried using e-cigarettes.
The GYTS is a cross-sectional, nationally representative school-based survey of students in grades 7-10, with ages 13 to 15 years. Conducted in the Philippines in 2019 by the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health in coordination with the Department of Education and Centers for Health Development, the survey involved a total of 6,670 students under the said age bracket.
The GYTS also revealed how easy it is for the youth to buy tobacco products in the country, with about two in five students who currently smoke (37%) saying that it was easy for them to buy tobacco products regardless of their age.
These alarming figures should serve as a wake-up call for our legislators to reject the bill easing e-cigarette regulation. The wide prevalence of use of e-cigs should be enough reason for our Congress to recalibrate their approach on the E-Cigs Bill and consider the health hazards these products pose.
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2239, or the E-Cigs Bill, which relaxes the regulation of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or e-cigarettes. The House of Representatives has passed House Bill 9007, otherwise known as the proposed “Non-Combustible Nicotine Delivery Systems Regulation Act,” popularly referred as the “E-Cigs Bill,” on Third and Final Reading last May.
The problem with the proposed E-Cigs Bill is that it relaxes control measures over harmful tobacco products. The bill also contains provisions that can potentially attract more Filipino youth and children to using these highly-addictive and dangerous products.
The health hazards posed by using e-cigarettes have already been established by several studies. Aside from being highly addictive, e-cigarettes also cause “E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury” and heart disease, and its emissions can also harm others when inhaled.
May we safeguard our nation’s future generation by ensuring that stronger cigar regulations are in place and are properly implemented.
