Press Release
November 12, 2007

Pia: Health advocates close ranks to push for
graphic health warnings, remove "false descriptors"
like "light" and "low tar" from cigarette labels

Senate Health and Demography Chairperson Senator Pia S. Cayetano has welcomed the set of proposals submitted by representatives of the Department of Health (DOH) and World Health Organization (WHO) asking Congress to strengthen cigarette labeling regulations under Republic Act 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act.

The proposals were contained in a draft bill submitted to the lady senator by DOH Undersecretary Alexander Padilla, Dr. Haik Nikogosian, WHO-Geneva Representative, and Dr. Soe Nyunt-U, WHO Country-Representative.

The draft bill called for the inclusion, by July 1, 2008, of full-color picture-based warnings on tobacco packs depicting the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on people's health.

It also seeks the removal, by January 1, 2008, of "false descriptors" like "low tar," "light," or "mild," that directly or indirectly create the false impression that particular tobacco product variants or brands are less harmful than any other cigarette products, variants or brands.

Under the proposal, the picture-based health warning would occupy at least 50 percent of the area of the pack and shall be located at the upper portion of the pack's front and back panels.

The accompanying text of the picture shall be printed in English on the front panel and Filipino on the back panel. Concise information about the warning, as issued by the DOH, will also be printed on one side panel of the pack.

The picture-based warning is one of the recommendations under Article 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to which the Philippines is a signatory, along with 35 other countries.

Gruesome pictures or pictograms of throat cancer, lung cancer and other ill effects on health of smoking are already required in the cigarette labeling laws of Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Uruguay, Canada and Singapore.

Currently, the Tobacco Regulation Act only requires text health warnings occupying 30 percent of the front and back panels of all cigarette packs sold in the market.

"It's ironic that certain cigarette labels with graphic health warnings being marketed in Thailand are actually printed in the Philippines, but these are not being required here," she observed.

Cayetano added text warnings have proven to be insufficient in conveying the dangers of tobacco products. She noted that a March 2007 study in Canada on the behavior of its adult smokers showed only 30% of respondents took notice of text-only health warnings, while 93% noticed the graphic warnings.

She said the inputs will be used in a new bill she intends to sponsor in the Senate, stressing that this would help in educating the youth of the effects of smoking.

"It is important that we send a very clear message, especially to the youth who are most vulnerable. When they see a package of a cigarette, they'll know that the effect of their smoking will lead to various diseases which are clearly depicted in the pictogram warning," stressed the lady senator.

"I thank the Department of Health, WHO and anti-smoking advocates for helping us craft this. We will have a technical working group to finalize the proposed measure and we will be sponsoring it at the soonest possible time."

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