Doctors' group backs MMDA anti-smoking drive

A doctors' group has thrown its support for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) drive to enforce the smoking ban in public places. PMA President Oscar Tinio reiterated his organization's advocacy for a smoke-free Philippines which the PMA launched in February this year. "Smoking kills. As physicians, it is our duty to inform the public of the clear and present danger of tobacco smoking against our health and lives," Tinio said in an article posted on the MMDA website. Tinio congratulated Tolentino for "demonstrating the political will required to enforce the smoking ban in public places across the National Capital Region." Tinio said second- and even third-hand tobacco smoke equally kills people. Citing a study on Metro Manila's 12 million inhabitants, he said more than 20 percent of heart attacks in Metro Manila can be attributed to secondhand smoke. The study was done by the World Lung Foundation (WLF) and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. The same study revealed that if one's average exposure to second hand tobacco smoke in Metro Manila is one to seven hours per week the total attributable heart attacks would be approximately 10 percent. But if the average number of hours of exposure is more than 21 hours per week, the number of secondhand smoke related heart attacks in Metro Manila would increase to more than 20 percent of the total heart attack incidents in the metropolis. "A separate study done in the United States by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed that only by eliminating smoking in indoor spaces can a non-smoker be fully protected from exposure to second-hand smoke," Tinio said. "This study further confirms that the usual practice of separating smokers from non-smokers in public places cannot eliminate dangerous exposures of non-smokers to second hand smoke even if air cleaning devices and building ventilations are used," Tinio added. "These shocking revelations necessitate the total ban on tobacco smoke in public places. There are existing Philippine laws on smoking but its enforcement is poorly implemented," he also said. According to Tinio, the Philippines was among the 172 countries that originally signed the World Health Organization - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), the first international treaty negotiated under the WHO and entered into force on February 25, 2005. This treaty was developed in response to the globalization of the fatal tobacco epidemic. However, the Philippines has yet to fully comply with its obligations under the said treaty. - VVP, GMA News