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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
While it’s no secret that
smoking can be hazardous to one’s health, experts are now saying
that puffing away may be also detrimental to one’s pocketbook.
And poor people who turn to
smoking to forget about the hardships they face, may in fact be
making their economic situation worse, Emer Rojas of the Philippine
Laryngectomy Club said during the Regional Workshop on Tobacco
Control and Sustainable Development on Tuesday. The club, whose
members are cancer victims, was invited to give testimonials at the
event organized by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, or
Seatca.
“Smoking has become a status
symbol, especially for the poor,” Rojas explained. “They smoke,
because they believe that it creates the impression that they are
somewhat rich because they can still afford to smoke.”
This theory was corroborated by a
study on Household Expenditures and Tobacco conducted by Marilou
Banquilod in 2003 and published in a booklet by Southeast Asia
Tobacco Control Alliance. The study showed that the Philippines’
poorest households spend 2.5 percent of their money on tobacco use
– higher than their expenditure for health (1.3 percent) and
education (1.6 percent).
In the Philippines, another study
by the Department of Health and World Health Organization (WHO)
pointed out that four smoking-related diseases – lung cancer,
cerebro-vascular disease, coronary artery diseases and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease – cause some 87,600 deaths every
year.
“When they [poor people] get
sick, they can’t work anymore, and the family will have to shell
out additional money for their medicines. There are some who choose
to leave their family because of guilt,” said Roxas, who has
laryngectomes, a type of smoking-related cancer that permanently
damages the vocal chords. That illness makes him talk like the Darth
Vader character in the movie Star Wars.
Cost to taxpayers
Economist Benjamin Diokno of the
Philippine National Bank School Economics also argued that economic
costs become higher for the smokers.
“Income and productivity losses
happen as a result of tobacco-related illness and premature death.
The burden of these costs falls on individuals and their
employees,” said Diokno, a former Budget secretary.
Roxas also expressed his concern
that most members of the Filipino workforce are smokers, especially
those working in business processing outsourcing companies,
including call centers.
Roxas said he is worried that
these workers will eventually get sick then lose their posts, get
discriminated against for their sickness, or worse, retire early
because of poor health. They get caught up in the vicious cycle of
poverty, he added.
“The huge number of Filipino
workers is working in the call centers, which means they have more
money to spend on cigarettes. It is really alarming,” he added.
Economic benefits doubtful
Diokno said that in most
countries, the economic contribution of the tobacco industry is
small.
“Corporate profits are larger
than that of the [tobacco] farmers,” he said. “Besides, we know
more about economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing.
The soaring food prices and rising incidence of hunger is a good
opportunity for the government to re-train the tobacco farmers so
that farmlands will produce food, rather than tobacco.”
The Philippine government earns
around P90-billion from the tobacco industry. But the public-health
spending on smoking-related diseases reaches about P270-billion
annually.
Dr. Prakit Vathesathogkit,
secretary-general of Thailand Foundation for Non-smoking Campaign,
suggested that the Philippine government should impose hefty taxes
for cigarettes and alcohol, just like what Thailand did.
“Since 1993, we have been
increasing the taxes for tobacco and alcohol products every one or
two years. The increase, along with graphic warnings [of a
smoker’s body], will eventually alienate people, especially poor
and children, from smoking.”
Dr. Mary Assunta, policy
development advisor of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance,
echoed Vathesathogkit, saying that policy makers attending the
Association on Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Health Ministers
Meeting later this week should acknowledge this reality and take
necessary actions toward tougher tobacco control policies in the
region.
“Tobacco has enslaved the
region, but we don’t need to remain as slaves,” Assunta said.
“There are lessons we have learned —that cheap tobacco is
devastating to health and economy, and increasing tobacco tax will
help our poor.”
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