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[av_heading heading=’ EDITORIAL | Smoking young’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Thursday, May 11, 2017
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THE Department of Health’s Epidemiology Bureau recently released the result of the 2015 Global Youth Tobacco Survey. It was worrisome. In the past four years there has been an increase in the number of teen smokers between the ages of 13 and 15 even if there’s a decline in the number of Filipino adult smokers.
First off, where do these kids get the money to buy cigarettes? Haven’t we increased cigarette prices by imposing higher taxes on them? We dread to see not just one epidemic but two – smoking and tuberculosis. Smoking has been associated with TB for as long as 50 years. Recent studies have shown a clear and distinct link between active and passive smoking and a range of TB outcomes.
Smoking greatly increases the risk of death in a diseased patient. Nearly 61 percent of TB deaths can be attributed to smoking. In fact, one in five deaths could be avoided if patients were not smokers.
Political commitment to reduce the smoking burden is essential – not just for tobacco users, but also for tuberculosis victims and their families. We cannot let the two epidemics continue to ravage our country.
According to the World Health Organization, our country has one of the highest number of TB cases in the world. The fact that smoking directly affects the disease should signal a red flag to legislators. The continued increase of smoking prevalence in the Philippines and its high health costs therefore demand for a sin tax reform that could effectively curtail tobacco consumption.
Compared to non-smokers, current and former smokers are at a greater risk of TB infection. The odds are even greater if you consider the duration of smoking or the amount of cigarette consumption. Exposure to secondhand smoke also increases the risk of infection, particularly among the young. If infected, active smoking heightens the risk of disease and may even worsen its severity. The risk is much higher the longer you smoke or the younger you are when you pick up the habit.
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