Philippines Lawmakers Reiterate Need For an Investigation Into FDA Funding

Source from:  Vapingpost 01/26/2021

Last October, two members of the House of Representatives were forced to suspend public consultations on vaping and heated tobacco products, after the Philippines FDA, was forced to admit that it had received a grant from the Union and Bloomberg Initiative.

“The Union co-manages the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Grants Program, which awards funds to projects delivering high-impact tobacco control interventions in low- and middle-income countries,” said Rep. Estrellita Suansing during a virtual consultations’ session, which took place on October 8th.

“In 2019 The Union launched the Global Implementation Programme, which supports cities to effectively implement tobacco control laws, and we are a key partner in STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog. Both projects are also funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies,” she added.

Clarisse Virgino, the Philippines’ representative to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), has recently voiced her concern with regards to this admission. “It comes now as no surprise that the Administrative Order drafted by the FDA, if adopted, would virtually constitute a de facto ban on vapes and HTP,” she said. “The FDA agenda is crystal clear. For the 16 million Filipino smokers, the only option is to quit or die. To the 1 million vapers, go back to smoking cigarettes.”

Virgino added that the funds received by anti-vaping groups would jeopardize the FDA’s treatment of tobacco harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes and HTPs. “E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not pharmaceutical products and should not be regulated as such. What we need is a fair and risk-proportionate regulation that will encourage smokers to reduce their exposure to smoke which is the one that causes all these diseases.”