The Department of Health as well as private medical experts have warned that the country faces the risk of having an epidemic of e-cigarette or vape-associated lung injury (EVALI) among the Filipino youth as they noted that more and more young people are getting hooked to the vice.

According to pulmonologist Dr. Maricar Limpin, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Philippines, approximately 1 out of every 7 Filipino youths aged 13-15 years old are already using vapes as shown in the results of the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The first EVALI case in the country which was recorded in November 2019 was a 16-year-old girl from the Visayas who had been using both vape and cigarettes for 6 months before she got ill.

The DOH stated that the dual-user patient was admitted to the hospital on October 21 after experiencing severe shortness of breath. The girl required oxygen supplementation and she was eventually admitted to the intensive care unit. After examination and evaluation, the doctors confirmed that it was EVALI.

In the United States (US), nearly 3,000 patients had been admitted to different hospitals in 2020, with 68 deaths reported, the department said.

The alarming trend in the Philippines is not a coincidence but a result of the tobacco industry’s calculated marketing tactics targeting the youth, Dr. Limpin stressed.

She noted that the Philippines was even touted at the International Tobacco Agricultural Summit in August 2023 as a potential hub for manufacturing heated tobacco.

“The tobacco industry is actively targeting the youth with flavors, colorful packaging, and misleading marketing tactics, and the free rein they get from the Vape Law is to blame. We’ve seen this playbook before with cigarettes, and we cannot allow an EVALI crisis to happen here in the Philippines,” Dr. Limpin declared.

“It was just one case in 2019, but we’re beginning to observe more and more cases today, especially among young people,” she added.

Dr. Limpin further noted that based on reports from the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, there are currently seven EVALI cases nationwide, particularly in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Visayas, and most of them are only between 20 and 25 years old.

Dr. Riz Gonzalez, chair of the Philippine Pediatric Society Tobacco and Nicotine Control Advocacy Group, remarked that with how accessible vapes are, tobacco is now an issue for children and the growing EVALI cases are proof.

Dr. Gonzalez said that some EVALI patients have developed symptoms similar to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

DOH Secretary Teddy Herbosa commented, “Yung vape industry, kapag nakita niyo ‘yung mga advertisement, may cartoons pa eh – pang-attraction talaga sa bata.”

Dr. Herbosa discussed that Under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 11900 of 2022 (An Act Regulating the Importation, Manufacture, Sale, Packaging, Distribution, Use, and Communication of Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products, and Novel Tobacco Products), it is prohibited for individuals aged 17 and below to buy or sell Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products.

“The minimum allowable age for the purchase, sale and use of Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products, their devices, or Novel Tobacco Products shall be 18 years old, but this is not always the case,” Dr. Herbosa elaborated.

“But you’ll see kids in high school uniforms with what looks like a necklace around their necks, but it’s actually emitting smoke,” the health secretary said, adding, “And you know what I also discovered when I asked around? Kids don’t buy vapes at stores. You know where they buy them? Online!”

Herbosa revealed that he would cooperate with the Department of Education (DepEd) to educate the youth on the negative effects of using these devices. He likewise reminded the parents to “stop the kids from vaping.”

He then pointed out the EVALI to remind the public of the negative effects of vaping or using e-cigarettes.

“When your lungs are damaged by vaping, that’s irreversible,” the DOH chief concluded.

Art card: Malvar Manalaysay