‘Vape trend’ can cause lung injury among youth — health experts

Health professionals on Thursday said that using electric cigarettes or vape products is not a safer alternative to smoking for it may cause lung injury, especially among the youth.

In a forum, health experts warned that the vape and e-cigarette industry targeting Filipino youth puts the country at risk of an epidemic of e-cigarette or vape-associated lung injury (EVALI).

According to pulmonologist Dr. Maricar Limpin of Action on Smoking and Health, the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey reported that approximately 1 out of every 7 Filipino youths aged 13-15 are now using vapes. 

“This alarming trend is not a coincidence but a result of the tobacco industry’s calculated marketing tactics targeting the youth. We know that these products are dangerous but are designed as ‘smoke-free’ options which only feed deception to the younger people,” Limpin said. 

A leading factor why the youth are engaged in vaping is the flavoring, which attracts the younger people. Among the common ones are fruit and menthol. 

Limpin said the EVALI epidemic could soon hound the Philippines as it positions itself as a vape manufacturing hub.

EVALI is a medical condition causing lung damage from substances contained in vaping products. 

While there is no available data on the number of cases of EVALI and related injuries and deaths in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded the first case in the country in November 2019: a 16-year-old girl from the Visayas who was using both vape and cigarettes. 

As of February 2020, more nearly 3,000 patients had been admitted to hospitals in the United States due to EVALI, with 68 deaths reported so far.

"We've seen this playbook before with cigarettes, and we cannot allow an EVALI crisis to happen here in the Philippines,” said Dr. Riz Gonzalez, chairperson of the Philippine Pediatric Society Tobacco and Nicotine Control Advocacy Group. 

She then called on lawmakers to revisit the Republic Act No. 11900, or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-nicotine Products Regulation Act, which transfers regulatory jurisdiction over vapes and other novel tobacco products from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry.

"We urge the government to prioritize the people over the interests of the industry by restricting these tactics targeting children. If this continues, the Philippines could end up becoming a vape colony,” Au Quilala, deputy executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development.

Last month, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that more than 8,600 minors were caught violating vaping and smoking laws from May to December 2023. 

The PNP is currently finalizing some implementing guidelines in connection with their efforts to enforce the smoking and vaping laws, especially for minors.

The Health department has also expressed support for the proposal of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto to ban disposable vape products in the Philippines.

It noted that all vape products in general result in significant health risks, including e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, nicotine addiction, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Meanwhile, Recto floated the possibility of banning the sale of disposable vapes in the Philippines, saying that most are unregistered with the DTI and do not pay excise taxes.—LDF, GMA Integrated News