The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is gathering data on vaping prevalence in the country, reports Malaya Business Insight.
DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the information will be used to convince policymakers to strengthen laws against vaping.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), e-cigarette users among the youth increased from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2019.
The DOH statement comes after nine former health officials called on the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to take the lead in pushing for the fight against vapes and electronic cigarettes.
The former DOH secretaries and undersecretaries believe the Philippine delegation should speak about the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulations on e-cigarettes and vapes.