DepEd capacitates regional, division coordinators on tobacco control campaign

In line with the celebration of the National No Smoking Month, the Department of Education (DepEd) conducted three batches of WHO MPOWER Training for Regional and Schools Division Tobacco Control Coordinators in Iloilo City from May to June 2019.

“The observance of the National No Smoking Month simultaneous with the opening of classes is an opportune time to ensure that measures are in place to protect our learners and personnel from the harms of tobacco, and to strengthen their health-promoting behaviors such as embracing a tobacco-free lifestyle,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

MPOWER, a policy package introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO), stands for six policies based on the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC)  proven to reverse the tobacco epidemic and prevent millions of tobacco-related deaths:

(1) Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies;

(2) Protect people from tobacco smoke;

(3) Offer help to quit tobacco use;

(4) Warn about the dangers of tobacco;

(5) Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and

(6) Raise taxes on tobacco.

“The recently concluded training aims to build the capacity of our Tobacco Control Coordinators in effectively implementing and promoting evidence-based tobacco control measures in our schools and offices,” Briones added.

The WHO congratulated DepEd for advancing the implementation of the FCTC in the Philippines.

Dr. Florante Trinidad, National Officer for the Tobacco-Free Initiative of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific-Office of the WHO Representative in the Philippines, who served as one of the resource persons for the training, said that the MPOWER training would ensure that DepEd’s comprehensive tobacco control policy would be better appreciated at the grassroots level and implemented accordingly.

DepEd Order (DO) No. 48, s. 2016, the Department’s comprehensive tobacco control policy, aims to ensure the strict implementation of bans such as the absolute smoking ban in schools and DepEd offices, the ban on the sale and advertisement of tobacco products in and within 100 meters from any point of the perimeter of schools, and the ban on tobacco sponsorships and other forms of unnecessary interaction with the tobacco industry.

The training also helped prepare the participants in vying for the Red Orchid Awards, the Department of Health’s (DOH) search for 100% tobacco-free environments, the indicators of which were based on the WHO MPOWER policy package.

The training was held in Iloilo City, which was recently recognized by the WHO as one of the recipients of the World No Tobacco Day Awards 2019 for its contribution to tobacco control. The Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force also presented its good practices in tobacco control during the training.

Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) Philippines likewise commended DepEd for the initiative. ASH Philippines Executive Director Dr. Ma. Encarnita Limpin, who also served as a resource person, said that ASH Philippines will continue this partnership with DepEd, along with exploring common areas of interests—particularly in research, enforcement, and community participation—to protect all school-age youth from being targeted by tobacco marketing tactics, including those that promote the use of electronic cigarettes.

Other resource persons for the training were from the Civil Service Commission, local institutions such as the Western Visayas State University and the Western Visayas Medical Center, civil society organizations such as Action for Economic Reforms, and international organizations such as Vital Strategies, and the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union).

DepEd also issued Memorandum No. 70, s. 2019 in June to enjoin DepEd offices and schools nationwide to celebrate the National No Smoking Month by promoting the implementation of DO 48, s. 2016.