ILOILO – To achieve a totally smoke-free region, the Department of Health (DOH) urged all local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to have tobacco control ordinances.
Of the 133 LGUs in the region, 67 have so far passed such ordinances, according to John Richard Lapascua, senior health program officer for lifestyle-related diseases of DOH Region 6.
These LGUs are in Aklan (10), Antique (10), Capiz (15), Guimaras (four), Negros Occidental (15), and Iloilo province (12).
Iloilo City also has an anti-smoking ordinance.
Right now, said Lapascua, DOH-6 is helping 13 LGUs craft their tobacco control ordinances. They hope to approve these ordinances before 2019 is over.
The ordinances can help save lives, said Lapascua.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than eight million people a year around the world.
There are more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and at least 69 are known to cause cancer.
More than seven million of the tobacco-related deaths, said WHO, are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
Lapascua, however, said passing tobacco control ordinances is not enough. LGUs must enforce the ordinances, he stressed.
“Having the ordinance is only the first step. Anhon ta ang ordinance kon wala gina-implement,” he said.
DOH-6 is monitoring the LGUs with tobacco control ordinances, Lapascua revealed, and those dutifully enforcing them are honored with the Red Orchid Award.
The Red Orchid Award, or the “Search for 100% Tobacco-Free Environment”, encourages absolute smoking ban in DOH offices, hospitals and attached agencies, government offices, and encourages local government units to do the same in their health facilities and other public places.
Just this May, WHO highlighted the damage tobacco causes to lung health – over 40 percent of all tobacco-related deaths are from lung diseases like cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and tuberculosis.
WHO called on countries and partners to increase action to protect people from exposure to tobacco.
“Every year, tobacco kills at least eight million people. Millions more live with lung cancer, tuberculosis, asthma or chronic lung disease caused by tobacco,” said WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Healthy lungs are essential to living a healthy life. Today – and everyday – you can protect your lungs and those of your friends and family by saying no to tobacco,” said Ghebreyesus.
In 2017, WHO data showed tobacco killed 3.3 million users and people exposed to second-hand smoke from lung-related conditions, including:
* 1.5 million people dying from chronic respiratory diseases
* 1.2 million deaths from cancer (tracheal, bronchus and lung)
* 600 000 deaths from respiratory infections and tuberculosis
More than 60,000 children aged under five years old die of lower respiratory infections caused by second-hand smoke, according to WHO.
Those who live on into adulthood are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life, it added./PN
