Experts warn vs vaping

HEALTH experts have warned the public against the possibility of increasing cases of vaping injury, especially among young people, after the country reported its first fatality to the use of electronic cigarettes.

At the special press briefing on World No-Tobacco Day held in Manila on Friday, Dr. Rizalina Gonzales of the Philippine Pediatric Society noted that despite the decrease in the number of young people ages 13 to 15 who are smoking tobacco, there has been an increase in the number of young people taking electronic e-cigarettes, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in 2019.

The survey shows that 14.1 percent of young Filipinos use e-cigarette, higher than the 11.7 percent who said that they tried or experimented with it.

Largely, smoking prevalence in the Philippines is also high, at 15.3 percent, while 20 percent of smokers use electronic cigarettes or vaping, collectively called electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS.

Gonzales also said that the number of Evali or E-Cigarette or Vaping product Associated Lung Injury cases in the country is increasing, with six reported Evali cases in the country, of which one of them, a 22-year-old male smoker, died — the first ever reported case of death due to vaping.

He was healthy, sporty, a non-smoker, and had no other vices. He went to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) when he complained of breathing difficulty and had a cough. When his lungs were checked, they were white, or in layman's terms, his clear lungs were white because vape chemicals caused inflammation, and his heart's veins were blocked, causing a heart attack. He eventually died, Gonzales said in Filipino.

Because of the «vaping death,» health experts have called for a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes and vapes in the country.

But Sen. Pilar Juliana «Pia» Cayetano, a staunch advocate against vaping, believes that the current Vape law must be enforced fully even if the provisions of the law are not in favor of anti-vape advocates.

Republic Act 11900, or the Vape law, regulates the use of e-cigarettes and vaporizers in the country, which superseded the safeguards that were introduced in the Sin Tax Law,