DOH chief wants total vape ban

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Ted Herbosa is pushing for a total ban on vape products due to their toxic and addictive substances that endanger lives.

“My personal stand is to ban vape, because it is poison. I am the secretary of health so why will I give poison to the Filipinos and the youth?” Herbosa said in a radio program yesterday.

“It (vape) is not less harmful. I see it to be more harmful though this hasn’t come out before – these dangerous illnesses such as EVALI or E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury,” he added.

Herbosa explained that EVALI is a new illness that emerged and became evident when many started using e-cigarettes and vape products.

“So the effects are different. There are those that developed ‘popcorn lungs.’ Some have their lungs turned black for being a chronic smoker for many years, and then the damage becomes permanent,” he said.

The Department of Health noted that in Southeast Asia, only three countries – the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia – have yet to ban vape products.

“For our children, it should be total ban,” Herbosa said.