Ex-DOH secretaries condemn ‘tobacco interference’ amid COVID-19

At least four (4) former secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH) and law group ImagineLaw released a statement on Sunday denouncing ‘tactics and strategies employed by the tobacco industry and their front groups seeking to relax tobacco control policies in the country’ amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The statement was signed by Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan, health secretary in 1995, Dr. Carmencita Reodica, health secretary from 1996 to 1998, Dr. Manuel Dayrit, DOH secretary from 2001 to 2005, and Dr. Paulyn Jean Ubial, DOH secretary from 2016 to 2017.

“We condemn the tobacco industry’s exploitation of the ongoing health crisis by using corporate social responsibility (CSR) and donations to sanitize their name and distract the public from their role in the deaths, injuries, and the ruin of millions, worldwide,” their statement said.

The past DOH chiefs were joined by former PhilHealth President and CEO Alexander Padilla and former National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Undersecretary Florencia Dorotan in declaring that “tobacco companies are neither allies nor friends.”

The statement, which expressed support to the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2010-01 released by the DOH and the Civil Service Commission in 2010, was signed by more than 40 organizations, including the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS), Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians (PSPHP), and the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc (PHAPi). JMC 2010-01 requires government officials to reject unnecessary interaction and engagement with the tobacco industry, given the tobacco industry’s history of interfering with public health policies.

The group also called the tobacco companies’ CSR as ‘PR’ or ‘public relations stunts’. “[T]he tobacco industry should be held liable for smokers and non-smokers being more susceptible to severe COVID-19 symptoms due to respiratory problems and comorbidities caused by tobacco products and secondhand smoke,” their statement urged.

“[A]nnually, 117,000 Filipinos die from tobacco-related diseases,” according to the group. “No donation from the tobacco industry can account for the 210 billion pesos annual economic loss due to tobacco-related hospitalization and productivity losses,” their statement also said.

The group urged government officials to comply with the DOH-CSC JMC and reject any interaction with tobacco companies and their fronts.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated globally today, May 31, 2021.