Jhay Zelle Crisostomo, 17, wants his mother to quit smoking. In fact, his mother continued to smoke even while she was carrying him in his womb.
“She’s the only one raising me and my sister since our father left us. I hope my mother stops smoking,” he said.
Jhay participated in “Young Artists for Young Survivors,” an outreach program that tapped young artists to help their fellow youth who are suffering from the ill-effects of smoking. The event was organized by HealthJustice Philippines and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK).
“In this time of the pandemic, people need all the help that they can find, and the good thing is that we need not be financially well-off to be able to extend a helping hand. With their talents, young artists can raise funds to support their fellow youth who are suffering,” said Mardy Halcon, country focal lead of CTFK.
The event was a visual arts workshop and exhibit that involved young local artists. It was held during the last quarter of 2020 in partnership with the local government of Baguio City, considered one of the smoke-free local government models for their stringent tobacco control ordinance and sustained implementation, the project is a visual arts workshop and exhibit involving local young artists.
Global Youth Tobacco Survey
Tobacco use is the leading global cause of preventable death. The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.
The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes nearly 6 million deaths a year to tobacco. This figure is expected to rise to more than 8 million deaths a year by 2030.
In the Philippines, some 10 Filipinos die every hour or a total of 87,000 every year due to smoking-related illnesses like cancer, stroke, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
Data from the 2015 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) had the following significant findings among those aged between 13 to 15 years old:
- 79.4 percent of students, who currently smoke, buy their cigarettes from a store, shop, street vendor or kiosk;
- 70.1 percent of students have watched someone using tobacco on television, videos or movies.
- 71.6 percent of students have seen anti-tobacco messages in the media.
- 53.2 percent of students have seen anti-tobacco messages at sporting or community events.
- 63.1 percent of students have definitely thought that other people’s tobacco smoking is harmful to them.
The GYTS is a school-based survey that uses a two-stage cluster sample designed to produce representative samples of students in year levels associated with the 13 to 15 years age group. All classes in the selected year levels were included in the sampling frame.
The students who participated in the survey are current tobacco smokers.
In the Philippines, a total of 14.5 percent of students are current tobacco smokers.
Significantly, boys (20.5 percent) were more likely than girls (9.1 percent) to have smoked tobacco anytime during the past 30 days before the survey. About 12.0 percent of students are current cigarette smokers.
Similarly, boys (17.6 percent) were significantly more likely than girls (7.0 percent) to have smoked cigarettes anytime during the past 30 days before the survey. From these current cigarette smokers, 0.7 percent are frequent smokers or have smoked cigarettes in 20 or more days of the past 30 days.
About three out of ten students are ever tobacco smokers (31.6 percent) and ever cigarette smokers (28.1 percent). Consistently, boys were significantly more likely than girls to have smoked tobacco or cigarettes.
A notable percentage of students reported that they are tobacco users or those who have either smoked tobacco and/or used smokeless tobacco. Almost two out of ten students (16.0 percent) are current tobacco users and more than three out of ten students (34.1 percent) are tobacco users.
From both tobacco use status, boys are significantly twice more likely than girls to have used tobacco. The results reflect that boys are more susceptible to health risks associated with smoking.
Four out of ten (40.5 percent) current cigarette smokers reported that they usually consume less than one cigarette stick per day. Boys (35.4 percent) who smoke less than one cigarette per day is significantly lower than girls (51.9 percent). Survey results suggest that girls smoke lesser number of cigarettes than boys. Data also indicates a higher percentage for boys than girls for a higher number of cigarettes smoked per day.
Age of cigarette smoking initiation
The percentage of respondents on age of cigarette smoking initiation among ever cigarette smokers of 13 to 15 years old high school students was highest at 12 or 13 years old (34.3 percent).
More boys (35.8 percent) than girls (31.5 percent) had their first taste of cigarette at this age.
However, it is also notable that girls specifically those aged seven years or younger, had an early encounter with cigarette smoking.
A certain percentage of students reported that they had tried smoking cigarette at age seven years old and younger (12.0 percent), with girls (14.5 percent) more likely than boys (10.7 percent) to have ever tried cigarettes at an early age.
DOH response
Concerned about the impact of tobacco use, the Department of Health (DOH) has assured that it is looking for ways to address the issue. The DOH stressed that the effects of smoking should not be underestimated, “thus, efforts to collect an accurate assessment of the status of tobacco use has been intensified.”
In 2009, the DOH-National Center for Health Promotion (NCHP) launched the Red Orchid Award, which aims to search for the national, regional, and local offices that implement a 100% tobacco-free environment. The NCHP also joined the Planning Meeting of the ASEAN Focal Points on Tobacco Control (AFPTC), which has the goal of ensuring that effective tobacco control measures are in conformity with the ASEAN Social Cultural Blueprint.
In the same year, the DOH started implementing the Bloomberg Project titled, “Moving to the Next Level in the Philippines: Complete Implementation of the WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).” The project is tasked to supplement the country’s tobacco prevention efforts, in congruence with the DOH-NCHP, and to enforce WHO-FCTC effectively.
The key initiatives of the project include the development of a comprehensive National Tobacco Control Strategy (2011-2016) and Medium Term Plan (2011-2013), creation of the National Tobacco Control Coordinating Office (NTCCO) within the DOH, and formation of the DOH Tobacco Control Team (TCT) and 11 Sector-wide Anti-Tobacco (SWAT) sub-committees for the implementation of WHO-FCTC provisions. The NTCCO is in charge of working with other sectors of the DOH to synchronize tobacco control efforts and facilitated the development of the National Tobacco Control Strategy (NTCS) for 2011-2016.