Tag: smoking rate

  • Filipino Smoking Rate Decreases

    Filipino Smoking Rate Decreases

    Image: sezerozger | Adobe Stock

    The rate of current tobacco use and smoking among Filipinos aged 15 and older decreased to 19.5 percent, or 15.1 million, in 2021, according to GMA News.

    Exposure to secondhand smoke in homes and public places “significantly declined,” according to Vito Roque Jr. from the Department of Health’s Epidemiology Bureau, citing the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). The largest decline was in public transportation, decreasing from 37.6 percent in 2015 to 12.2 percent in 2021.

    While the quit rate among past 12-month users decreased, the number of adult smokers thinking of quitting because of health warnings increased from 37.4 percent in 2009 to 43.7 percent in 2021.

    “Key results from 2009 to 2021 showed a favorable trend in the country’s initiative on tobacco prevention and control. Results show a consistent downward trend in tobacco use prevalence [and] exposure to secondhand smoke,” Roque said.

    “These successes may be attributed to the adoption and implementation of tobacco prevention and control health policies and interventions. The results also reflect the effectiveness of the enforced key policies on tobacco taxation, graphic health warnings, protection of bureaucracy against tobacco industry interference and smoke-free environments,” he added.

  • Study indicates more than one-fifth of adults smoke

    A new study titled “Global Statistics on Addictive Behaviours: 2014 Status Report,” which was led by Professor Linda Gowing, of the University of Adelaide in South Australia, estimates that 22.5 percent of adults aged 15 years and older throughout the world smoke tobacco products. The rate use tobacco product use stood at 32 percent for men and 7 percent for women.

    Study results showed that eastern Europe had the highest percentage of adults smoking tobacco, at 30.5 percent, followed closely by Oceania at 29.5 percent and Western Europe at 28.5 percent. The lowest rate—13 percent—was observed in Africa and the Caribbean as well as central and northern America. An estimated 11 percent of deaths in males and 6 percent of deaths in females each year are attributed to tobacco use, according to the study.