EDITORIAL - Endangering public health

On the second Christmas in the time of COVID, a common wish for loved ones and friends is good health. This wish is not going to be fulfilled for those who are enticed to use vapes or e-cigarettes. In a rare move, the country’s medical organizations have come together to counter an aggressive campaign, with Big Tobacco among the participants, to promote vaping.

The Department of Health, in an official statement on Dec. 19, also condemned the recent approval of Senate Bill 2239, which effectively expands access to vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products.

The medical groups lamented that while the country was busy battling COVID-19, a deadly disease that attacks the respiratory system, senators bowed to the powerful lobby to widen access to vapes and e-cigarettes, which health experts have warned destroy the lungs. For its part, the DOH lamented that the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Regulation Act is “retrogressive,” with several provisions that contradict international standards in promoting public health.

SB 2239, principally authored by Sen. Ralph Recto, lowers the age of access to vapor products from 21 to 18 years old. It allows flavorings that appeal to the youth as well as advertising and sponsorship strategies to promote the products. All this, the DOH warned, “will expose our youth to harmful and addictive substances by making vapor products enticing and easily accessible.”

The health professionals warn that vape liquids and their emissions contain harmful substances that can be addictive, toxic or carcinogenic, including nicotine, carbon monoxide, carbonyls and propylene glycol, and should therefore be regulated as health products. The DOH also cites “growing evidence” of the potential of vapes to cause cardiovascular diseases, respiratory problems and “explosion injuries.” But SB 2239 places the regulation of the products under the Department of Trade and Industry rather than the DOH.

The Philippines, like much of the world, has achieved significant progress in curbing tobacco use. President Duterte is a staunch advocate of restricting cigarette smoking. Legislation such as SB 2239 will significantly roll back that progress. This bill has breezed through the Senate during the country’s worst public health crisis, wherein the deadly pathogen attacks the lungs and the respiratory tract. Responsible lawmakers should be moving to protect the lungs instead of putting public health at further risk.