Graphic warnings help encourage smokers to quit, says study

MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA— Smokers considered quitting after getting exposed to graphic health warnings found on cigarette packs, according to a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

These graphic warnings, which illustrate the ill-effects of smoking such as cancer, can help save lives in the Philippines and in other countries by reducing tobacco use, according to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC.

According to CDC, the vast majority of men who smoke cigarettes noticed package warning labels- more than 90 percent of men in all countries except India (78.4 percent) and Mexico (83.5 percent).

Among women, more than 90 percent in seven of the 14 countries reported noticing package warnings, and at least 75 percent in 12 of 14 countries reported noticing a package warning. Data suggest there was substantial interest in quitting because of the warnings.

Frieden campaigned for the implementation of graphic health warnings in tobacco products sold in the Philippines.

“Tobacco kills over five million people a year—more than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined—and will kill more than one billion people in this century unless urgent action is taken,” said  Frieden.

“Warning labels motivate smokers to quit and discourage nonsmokers from starting, are well accepted by the public, and can be effectively implemented at virtually no cost to governments,” he added.

The Philippines should have complied since 2008 with Article 11 of the FCTC requiring picture warnings on half of the cigarette packages as provided under Republic Act 9211, said Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, Philippines.

However, the lobbying power of tobacco manufacturers prevented the implementation of products even if they export packages containing the required warnings to Thailand and other countries abroad, Limpin added.

Some 57.5 percent of the male population in the Philippines are smokers while 12.3 percent of the women are smokers, according to the World Health Organization.

Some 87,000 Filipinos die from tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer, acute respiratory illness, stroke and heart attack every year.  -loQal.ph