Call for Graphic Health Warning on Cigarettes in the Philippines

We are writing to express that we, as Filipinos, are capable of showing our solidarity not only to defend the dignity of our medical institutions, but also to safeguard our right to life and health. The biggest threat to the health of Filipinos is smoking/exposure to tobacco smoke and ignorance of its deadly consequences.

Right now the textual health warnings for tobacco products cannot be understood by the Filipino people. Other countries have recognized this problem and have since used picture based warnings instead. As a result, they have seen significant improvement in the overall health of their citizens. In fact, Philippine tobacco manufacturers make these cigarettes with graphic warnings available for export to other countries but not to Filipinos.

The Filipino people have a right to know the deadly effects of smoking/exposure to cigarette smoke. The text warning right now is STILL NOT ENOUGH. Many are still smoking and dying while the young ones are curiously taking up the habit not knowing the danger, creating a vicious cycle of death that could be prevented through the use of picture based health warning that is universally understood by the people, especially the many who cannot read or write.

THEREFORE, We, the undersigned, call on you to support a legislation requiring picture based health warnings on cigarette packages to be available to Filipinos so that they understand the threat posed by tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

We call on your duty to implement the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a treaty the Philippines ratified in 2005 by

▪ requiring 50\% or more of the principal display areas and be in the form of or include pictures or pictograms.
▪ Protecting the policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

We call on you to abide by your duty to enforce the Constitutional right to public health and install, consequently the right of every person to be informed of the health consequences, addictive nature and mortal threat posed by tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Pictures can save millions of lives. Act now.