Follow Pasay lead vs vaping, health advocates urge

RESTRICTED USE A customer checks out the vape flavors at a store in Pasay, where the city council in June passed an ordinance punishing vapers in public areas, including passenger vehicles,with a fine of up to P4,000 plus rendering a 24-hour community service as street sweepers. —JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines — Health advocates urged local officials on Wednesday to follow the lead set by Pasay City in banning the use of vapes or electronic cigarettes in public places.

Dr. Anthony Leachon, coconvener of Sin Tax Coalition, said more cities and municipalities should pass ordinances restricting  the use of these smoking devices to protect the health of the public, particularly the youth.

“A product with potential adverse [effects] should be banned for public safety. It contains nicotine. Regardless of the amount, it’s harmful,” Leachon said.

On June 10, then Pasay Mayor Antonio Calixto signed  Ordinance No. 6016, which prohibits the use of vapes and e-cigarettes in government offices, hospitals, clinics, educational and recreational facilities, and passenger vehicles.

DOH warning

Vaping is only allowed in private workplaces and designated vaping areas of places open to the general public.

The ordinance also prohibits the sale of e-cigarette products to anyone under 18. Violators will pay a fine of up to P4,000 or perform a maximum 24-hour community service as street sweeper.

While e-cigarette manufacturers market their product as a healthier alternative to tobacco, the Department of Health has repeatedly warned against its use as the number of people in the United States getting sick from it continues to grow.

The Senate is deliberating on a bill to raise the excise on e-cigarettes and other heated tobacco products (HTPs) to help generate funds for the universal health care program.

Under the proposed measure, the tax rate for HTPs and vapor products will be pegged at P45 starting next year, and will be raised by P5 each year till it reaches P60 in 2023. A 5-percent annual increase will be imposed thereafter.

President Duterte certified the measure urgent on Tuesday, a move that the Sin Tax Coalition lauded as this would not only help curb the use of these products but also provide the much needed funding for the implementation of the universal health care program.

Some studies claim that vapor products contain fewer toxic chemicals and are less harmful than cigarettes, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

“We do not support their claim of reduced harm. These products endanger the health of both users and nonusers, and are clearly not meant for children,” Duque said.

As of Nov. 5, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 2,051 cases of lung injury and 39 deaths associated with e-cigarettes or vaping.

In a recent case of the severe effect of vaping in the United States, a 17-year-old Michigan boy facing “imminent death” from injuries had undergone a double lung transplant, the first in a patient who had used e-cigarettes, a Detroit hospital said on Tuesday.

The announcement by Henry Ford Hospital came a day after US President Donald Trump said he would meet with industry representatives as his administration weighed new regulations amid an outbreak of vaping-related illness and deaths.

“This teenager faced imminent death had he not received a lung transplant,” Dr. Hassan Nemeh, surgical director of thoracic organ transplant at Henry Ford, said in a statement announcing the mid-October procedure.

Family members of the boy, who was not identified by name, said in the statement that they had asked doctors to make public the “horrific life-threatening effects” of vaping.

“Within a very short period of time, our lives have been forever changed. (The boy) has gone from the typical life of a perfectly healthy 16-year-old athlete … to waking up intubated and with two new lungs, facing a long and painful recovery process as he struggles to regain his strength and mobility, which has been severely impacted,” the family said.

The young patient was given a “very good prognosis,” but faces a long recovery, Henry Ford said.