E-cigarettes is twice as effective in helping smokers quit, an independent medical research funded by Britain’s National Institute for Health Research.
Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association (PECIA), said the result of the research corrects the misconception on electronic cigarettes.
“No longer can anyone say that there is no reliable research on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in curbing smoking,” Dulay said.
PECIA is the country’s biggest vaping industry group composed of e-liquid manufacturers, hardware manufacturers, importers and exporters as well as vape shop owners.
Dulay urged the government to reconsider a proposed administrative order being pushed by the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration which seeks to ban all flavors and all advertising materials on e-cigarettes. The draft AO also requires e-cigarettes and e-liquids to go through an arduous registration process which the group believes will result in a de-facto ban on the category.
“We appeal to the government and regulators to assess carefully the benefits of e-cigarettes because it will provide an effective alternative to smoking just as what this study has proven,” Dulay said.
He said e-cigarettes can also help lower the costs related to the smoking problem in the country.
Dulay said most developed countries are actively using e-cigarettes to help their citizens quit smoking.
E-cigarettes or the electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) category can deliver the nicotine smokers crave minus the carcinogenic toxins resulting from smoking cigarettes.
The World Health Organization has placed the number of Filipino cigarette smokers at 15.9 million as of 2015.
“Making e-cigarettes freely available to them can lead to saving millions of Filipino lives,” Dulay said.
