Quit smoking to avoid ‘heartbreak,’ DOH urges on World No Tobacco Day

Health executives urge Pinoys to stop smoking for their hearts' sake, on May 31, 2018. Photo: Rie Takumi

On World No Tobacco Day, the Department of Health (DOH) urged Filipinos to avoid "heartbreak" by quitting smoking.

"I would like to reiterate that tobacco use and breathing secondhand smoke may indeed break your heart," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at a press briefing for the event at the DOH headquarters.

"Tobacco smoke thickens the blood, increases the risk of blood clots, narrows the arteries, and restricts oxygen in the blood," he continued.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every May 31.

Data from the World Health Organization showed that tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke contribute to approximately 12 percent of all heart disease deaths.

READ: Global data on smoking and its effects

In the Philippines, tobacco use is strongly linked to the six top non-communicable diseases that cause death: ischemic heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and other heart diseases.

"Seventeen Filipinos are dying every hour from tobacco-related diseases," said Philippine Heart Center specialist Dr. Ma. Encarnita Limpin, citing data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study.

"Globally, it's 17 million people dying every year. And if you ask about death secondary to heart disease due to tobacco use, over two million every year," she added.

Limpin added that the Philippine Statistics Agency in 2016 attributed more than 74,000 deaths to ischemic heart disease, or the narrowing of arteries.

Philippine Heart Association president Dr. Nannette Rey explained that some smokers might still contract any of the above diseases after quitting cold turkey, due to the effects of smoking on their body.

"By the time you stop, parang too late the hero: you did something, but something irreversible has already happened to you, that's why 'yung [pagtigil sa] smoking, hindi na napigilan," she said.

Quit smoking cold turkey

Still, health experts urge quitting smoking, and advised dropping the habit without prior planning.

They also urged ex-smokers to find activities that would distract them from their withdrawal symptoms.

"It takes personal will to really quit, and do it right away, cold turkey," Duque said.

Those having a hard time quitting may use the year-old tobacco cessation helpline Quitline (165-364) for real-time counseling and support.

Smoking cessation clinics are also accessible at local and rural health centers and may offer the same services as the helpline.

"Sometimes, it's very reassuring to hear kung paano natin ma-cope yung feelings na ganun," said Dr. Vicente Balanag Jr., Lung Center of the Philippines Executive Director, adding that 31 out of 204 smokers who called the helpline permanently quit smoking.

Legislation, higher taxes needed

According to the 2015 Global Adult Tobacco Survey, there are 15.9 million smokers in the Philippines.

However, Limpin said that higher tobacco taxes have been a surefire way of reducing tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases in the country.

She said they support all measures to increase the tax rate on cigarettes, including Senator Manny Pacquiao's bid to double the excise tax rate to P60 per pack and Senator JV Ejercito's bill to raise it even higher, to P90 per pack.

Meanwhile, Duque proposed to the Department of Interior and Local Government the promotion of more punitive measures or the incentivization to barangays to complement Executive Order 26, or the nationwide smoking ban. — BM, GMA News