ASEAN spends $10 billion yearly to manage pollution from cigarettes -study

Tobacco products not only affect health but are also seen to cause serious damage to the environment with over 4.5 trillion cigarette butts being discarded worldwide yearly, according to a study.

According to the ASEAN Tobacco Control Atlas, the study published by the Southeast Asia  Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), the figure included the 462.6 billion butts from the ASEAN region.

It noted that ASEAN countries spend nearly $10 billion annually on managing marine pollution and waste caused by cigarette butts and tobacco product packaging.

"Atlas shows ASEAN still accounts for one-tenth of the world's smokers and half a million tobacco-related deaths annually, incurring billions in healthcare costs and economic losses for governments," it said.

It however noted that Singapore's "impressive" single-digit adult smoking prevalence (9.2%) proved that ASEAN countries can effectively curb tobacco use with a ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

Moreover, aside from Thailand, Singapore, and  Myanmar, Lao PDR has also become the fourth Asian country to mandate standardized tobacco packaging.

The organization stressed that young people are drawn into using electronic smoking devices  (ESDs) at an alarming rate, making tobacco industry interference a significant issue in the ASEAN region.

"This sixth edition of the ASEAN Tobacco Control Atlas is a historical witness to both the tobacco control progress in Southeast Asia and the continuing aggression of the tobacco industry to enslave our peoples in nicotine addiction," said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, SEATCA Executive Director.

Governments were thus urged to strengthen their tobacco control policies to make them fully align with the WHO Framework  Convention on Tobacco Control.

The Philippine Department of Health earlier said that although the use of tobacco has declined in the  Philippines in the last ten years, electric cigarette and vape usage has increased, particularly among the youth aged 13-15 years old.

Health professionals have been actively stressing that using electric cigarettes or vape products is not a safer alternative to smoking for it may put the country at risk from an epidemic of e-cigarette or vape-associated lung injury (EVALI).

In May 2024, DOH  reported the first vape-related death in the Philippines — a 22-year-old Filipino male who died of a heart attack following a severe lung injury linked to his daily vape usage for two years. — DVM, GMA Integrated News