DOH SUED ON CIGARETTE PACKS WITH PICTURES; HEALTH GROUP HIT TOBACCO COMPANY

Press Release/17 June 2010

The health group, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) criticized the tobacco company, Fortune Tobacco Corp. for questioning in court the recent order of the Department of Health to put pictures in cigarette and tobacco packages bearing information about these products.

“Expectedly, the tobacco industry tries to block the order of the DOH aimed at protecting the Filipino people against smoking-related diseases,” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP Executive Director.

Fortune Tobacco Corp. filed a petition for Declaratory Relief with application for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on June 3, 2010 regarding the DOH Administrative Order No. 13, Requiring Graphic Health Information on Tobacco Product Packages.

The petition, now being heard before the sala of Marikina Regional Trial Court Branch 272 by Hon. Justice Felix P. Reyes will hold its next hearing on June 21.

The DOH issued the AO on May 24 imposing mandatory printing on cigarette packs of pictures and information depicting the real effects of cigarettes and the removal of all descriptors in cigarette products. Fortune filed the petition even before the AO is set to be implemented.

“The tobacco industry’s action confirms the effectiveness of pictures to control cigarette smoking among the youth. What the tobacco industry is not saying in the press release that pictures work too well for the youth who are the primary target of tobacco marketing. Why will the industry go all the way to the court if they do not see the effectiveness of this measure to curb smoking and eventually affect their profit? The industry will naturally move heaven and earth to refuse the printing of pictures in cigarette packs because this will effectively ruin one of their most vital marketing platforms, the product packages,” explained Limpin.

Limpin said reaching out to the younger generation was touted by the industry itself as the way to heftier profits. They are called replacement smokers as more adult smokers are dying due to smoking-related diseases.

In the template of pictures that will be printed in cigarette packs, the DOH AO requires printing of photos depicting the effects on the smokers of toxic compounds and over 60 carcinogens containing cigarettes and tobacco products. It also includes information that nicotine, a by-product unique only to tobacco, is the substance that eventually leads the smoker to addiction.

“The DOH issued the AO to provide the consumers with accurate information about cigarettes and other tobacco products. The industry deliberately omitted in their press statements that it was not meant to replace the existing health warning printed in cigarette packs,” said Limpin. FCAP is a health alliance of medical and health professionals, concerned mothers, environmental advocates, religious and faith-based groups and individuals who aim to liberate the Filipino people from the hazards and ailments caused by cigarettes and other tobacco products.

According to Limpin, the DOH has to ensure accurate product information because cigarettes and other tobacco products are the only consumer products legally sold in the market that are known to cause sure-death, if not debilitating and pain-causing ailments, when used as directed by the manufacturers.

REFERENCE: Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP Executive Director - 0917-6283502 Joyce E. Sierra +639175221065

STATEMENT OF COALITION FOR HEALTH ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY

From: DOH WebPAGE

9 June 2010

The Coalition for Health Accountability and Transparency (CHAT) is a coalition of civil society organizations concerned with issues on access to medicines, public health and good governance. Bound by a common advocacy, but recognizing the independence and integrity of its member-organization s, the Coalition is working to promote transparency and accountability, and encourage sharing of information in the field of public health.

The Coalition lauds the Department of Health (DOH) for upholding the Constitutional right to health and right to health information through the recent issuance of Administrative Order 2010-0013 (AO 2010 0013) requiring graphic health information and prohibiting misleading descriptors on tobacco product packages, and urges the DOH to stand firm despite the attempts to undermine the bold step forward in public health.

At least 10 Filipinos die every hour from preventable tobacco-related diseases. This is further aggravated by the lack of compelling information on the toxic and poisonous contents and emissions of tobacco products.

By requiring the placement of visible and full color pictures and health information on tobacco product packages, the DOH succeeds in effectively communicating the health risks of smoking to those sectors of the populace that are most vulnerable to the deceptive appeal of cigarettes – the youth and the illiterate.

We deplore the shameless attempts to undermine the DOH Administrative Order on Graphic Health Information. The tobacco companies, and those representing their interests, have no right to take away the Filipino’s right to health information. So far, they have questioned the DOH’s competence and authority as well as the legality of the DOH Administrative Order.

We join the community of lawyers’ and legal experts’ recognition of the DOH’s authority to issue the Administrative Order. Instead of questioning and protesting the DOH issuance, the tobacco companies should respect the Philippine government and the Filipino people in the same way that they respect other countries’ governments and people. Right now, these companies already place graphic information on cigarette packs they export to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The Filipinos deserve no less.

We urge the politicians (Congressmen) to refrain from supporting the tobacco industry’s attempts to question and nullify the Administrative Order. Policy makers should not act to promote industry interests and protect tobacco industry profits at the expense of the Filipino’s health.

We ask the DOH Secretary to stand firm and not to give in to the demands of the profit-driven tobacco industry to withdraw the AO.

The AO was issued in compliance with the mandatory requirements of a treaty. Any government act of backing off from it would be tantamount to telling the world that the Philippines does not care about treaties it signs nor does it care about the health of our people.

From: DOH WebPage

Press Release/24 May 2010

The Department of Health (DOH) today reaffirmed its commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and issued Administrative Order No. 2010-0013 requiring graphic health information on all tobacco packages and to adopt measures to ensure that tobacco product packaging and labeling do not promote tobacco use by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive or likely to create an erroneous impression.

The issuance of the AO is considered a monumental achievement in government efforts to curb tobacco use and reduce its gargantuan socio-economic costs. It is estimated that smoking exacts a P200 billion toll on the country due to health costs and productivity losses, in comparison to the P30B revenues gained from taxes paid by the tobacco industry.

The required graphic health warning information on all tobacco packages reflect findings that warning labels must be noticeable, relevant and memorable in order to be effective. At least 38 countries and territories are already implementing picture-based warnings on tobacco packaging. These include Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, Venezuela, Jordan, Australia, Uruguay, Panama, Belgium, Chile, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Romania, United Kingdom, Egypt, Brunei, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Peru, Djibouti, Switzerland, Cook Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Mongolia and Iran.

The European Union has also recommended that all their 27 member-states implement graphic health warnings. Other countries in the process of implementing picture-based warnings include France, Iceland. Ireland, Latvia, Macau, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, the United States, and member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Caribbean Community.

Most of the gains in reducing consumption are estimated to come from the youth sector who will likely be discouraged from smoking due to the graphic health information. This is very relevant considering that smoking prevalence among young Filipinos aged 13-15 has increased by approximately 30% over the past two years, according to the Philippines’ 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.

Bills have been filed in both the Senate (SB 2377) and the House of Representatives (HB 3364) that will mandate the use of picture-based warnings instead of mere text warnings on no less than 50% of both the front and back sides of the tobacco packages. However, these legislative initiatives have met strong opposition from the tobacco industry, which has used its influence on legislators, especially those from the Northern bloc of tobacco-growing provinces.

“The passage of these bills into law must be prioritized considering that an average of 1 Filipino dies every 6 minutes due to tobacco-related diseases”, said Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, adding that as of September 2008, the Philippines is already in violation of its treaty obligations under the FCTC.

“I am appealing to the leaders of the next administration to ensure their passage into law in order to save more than 17.3 million current smokers in the country aged 15 years and above from further addiction and exposure to major health risks”, Cabral said. She also noted that tobacco companies such as Philip Morris, Fortune Tobacco and Mighty Corporation already produce cigarette packages with graphic warnings for export to other countries. “There’s no reason why they cannot do it for us here”, she concluded.

Noting that the Arroyo Administration, in its concern for tobacco farmers has provided funds to the Philippine Tobacco Authority (PTA) to develop alternative crops and livelihoods for the tobacco farmers, Secretary Cabral expressed her appeal to the PTA to fulfill its obligations to tobacco farmers and to make a report on how it has spent the money allocated for this purpose. At the moment, the profits of tobacco companies and their middlemen have kept increasing whereas tobacco farmers have unfortunately been kept poor as they have always been. Perhaps it’s time for tobacco farmers to shift to growing more high value crops from which they can earn a better living.