MULING ipinaalala kamakailan ng isang health group na wala pang siyentipikong basehan na nagsasabing ligtas ang e-cigarettes at mga heated tobacco products.

“Even in the UK, where e-cigarettes are heavily promoted, no public health authority has claimed that these products are safe. The public and public servants in a position to protect public health must be fully apprised of the risks inherent to vaping,” pahayag ni Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Ang SEATCA ay isang multisectoral alliance na sumusuporta sa epektibong pagkontrol sa polisiya ng tabako sa mga bansa sa ASEAN bilang bahagi ng World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Ang pahayag ni Dorotheo ay tugon sa mungkahing panukala sa Pasig City na i-regulate ang vaping, at iwaksi ang pahayag na nagsasabing ligtas ang e-cigarettes “based on evidence.”

Nitong nakaraang buwan, nagdaos ng pagdinig ang Pasig City joint committees on appropriations, ways and means, trade, commerce and industry and health, sanitation and nutrition hinggil sa mungkahing ordinansa.

Ayon kay Mary Ann Fernandez- Mendoza, president ng HealthJustice, sinabi nitong “[tobacco industry] is behind the vaping lobby -- brainwashing the public into thinking e-cigarettes are safe”.

“The vaping industry is just the tobacco industry in different clothes. Because it is undisputed that smoking traditional cigarettes is a public health hazard, the tobacco industry would now have us believe that vaping or smoking e-cigarettes is safe. It is not. It’s just another form of addiction and the tobacco industry’s new source of income,” ani Mendoza.

Hinikayat din ni Dorotheo ang mga naninigarilyo na simulan ang paghinto sa halip na ipalit ang vaping.

“Quitting smoking is possible. It is the best thing that can happen to a smoker, and millions of people have successfully quit even before the advent of vaping,” aniya.

Nabanggit din niya ang unang pagkamatay sa mundo na ikinokonekta sa vaping na nangyari sa Illinois kung saan nagkaroon ang biktima ng severe lung disease.

Habang iniimbestigahan na rin, aniya, ng Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sa United States ang nasa 215 napaulat na kaso ng severe lung disease na konektado sa paggamit ng e-cigarettes.

“As such, it is most prudent to exercise caution. Stop spreading word that e-cigarettes are safe if only to prevent more people, especially our youth, from falling prey to yet another public health hazard,” ayon pa kay Mendoza.