THE Department of Health (DoH), together with a group of doctors, reiterated its appeal to the public to stop smoking in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, saying tobacco use increases the risk of virus transmission.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire acknowledged in a recent media forum that it was not easy promoting the no-smoking campaign, “but we are not giving up.”
Echoing Vergeire’s call, Dr. Rizalina Racquel Gonzalez, chairman of the Philippine Pediatric Society Tobacco Control Advocacy Group, explained how cigarette smoking can lead to an increase in hospitalization and death among new coronavirus patients.
“Smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and death in hospitalized Covid-19 patients,” Gonzalez said. “As the lungs are damaged by tobacco use, the effects of coronavirus can be worse.”
She noted that Covid-19 could be worse for smokers because it harms nearly every body organ, particularly the lungs.
Tobacco use affects the immune system, which makes smokers less able to fight off infections.
The doctor also pointed out that the hand-to-mouth gesture of puffing a cigarette or vape is counterintuitive to public medical advice advising people not to touch their faces, increasing the risk of spread of the virus.
Smoking is often a social activity, which opens an opportunity to crowd, making physical distancing harder. Smokers using waterpipe or shisha also are also inclined to share their pipes, which can spread Covid-19 from person to person, Gonzales pointed out.
She proposed stronger support for policies against tobacco use.
There are a host of no-smoking laws in place. Executive Order (EO) 26, series of 2017, bans smoking in enclosed public spaces and the sale of cigarettes within 100 meters of a school.
There is also EO 106, series of 2020, which updated EO 26 to include ban on manufacture and sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.
Republic Act (RA) 11346 raised the excise tax on cigarettes by P45 per pack with an incremental increase of P5 per year every four years, while RA 11467 raised the excise tax on e-cigarette liquids and its access to 21 years old.
JOHN ERIC MENDOZA