Philippines: No Compromise in Anti-tobacco Campaign

Source from:  Philippine Star 07/20/2015

The Department of Health (DOH) has ruled out the possibility of any compromise in its anti-tobacco campaign.

Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH spokesman, said the health department would not heed the call of anti-tobacco advocates to just regulate the ingredients to make smoking less addictive.

He noted that several studies have shown that tobacco products contain carcinogenic substances.
 
"For the DOH, it's totally for no smoking. There could be no compromise. It's just yes or no, and the DOH is for no smoking," Lee Suy stressed.
 
According to the World Health Organization, cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals of which 70 are cancer-causing ingredients.
 
Chemicals in tobacco include nicotine, used as an insecticide and also the ingredient that makes the product addictive; tar, a material used for paving roads; formaldehyde, an embalming fluid; arsenic, used in rat poison; methanol, a main component in rocket fuel; naphthalene, used in mothballs; carbon monoxide, which is released in car exhausted fumes; benzene, found in rubber cement; butane, used in lighter fluid; toluene, used to manufacture paint; and lead, which is used in batteries. Enditem