THE Asia Harm Reduction Forum has shared its advocacies across the globe with a different approach how to promote a healthier lifestyle to the public after the signing of “The Manila Declaration 2022.”
A few months have passed by after the passage of the “Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act or also known as the Vape Bill,” world-renowned health experts are pushing for some alternatives to keep the harm reduction practices.
Clarisse Virgino, Philippine representative to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), expressed their all-out support to Filipino lawmakers for making the harm reduction advocacies a reality through legislation.
“The Vape Law introduces new possibilities for harm reduction alternatives in the country. It is just the first step towards a healthier and safer environment for all,” Virgino explains during the hosting of the fifth annual congregation organized by the Asia Harm Reduction Forum last October 28 at the Manila Hotel.
“We hope that our legislators continue to pursue different aspects of harm reduction in its constitutional mandate to protect the welfare of its citizens.”
Proving to be at the forefront of the harm reduction industry, the Philippines continues to prove its belief in the advocacy and would only seek further measures to enhance its promotion, according to the Asia Harm Reduction Forum.
The nonprofit and interdisciplinary organization that empowers and enjoins individuals, communities, and the government to make informed health-related decisions, has provided an updated outlook about different harm reduction advocacies.
Health experts from different fields — policymaking, science, business, and education— have already informed the public about the benefits of sustaining harm reduction practices during that forum.
Industry leaders present authored The Manila Declaration 2022 and have called on the World Health Organization (WHO)’s signatories and delegates of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to follow the science and evidence around tobacco harm reduction and impede the promotion of tobacco use whilst encouraging alternatives such as safer nicotine products.
It’s just one year until the WHO’s 10th FCTC Conference of Parties (COP10) in Panama. The key global meeting will see delegates discuss and make recommendations on safer nicotine products.
Providing an avenue of discussion, accessibility to information and forward-thinking legislation, the Philippines continues to lead the charge in tobacco harm reduction around its Asian neighbors.
Among the most ardent discussions during the Asia Harm Reduction Forum 2022 was the passage of Republic Act No. 1190, otherwise known as the ‘Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act’, its succeeding implementation on a national level and its resulting effects on the consumers in the country.
Gracing the event through his keynote address, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, one of the principal authors of the aforementioned ‘Vape Bill’, stated: “The best way to implement a harm reduction approach is to pass a law that will make this a state policy.”
Barbers fully exhibited his understanding of the value of a policy-making approach to harm reduction practices.
The Manila Declaration was signed and released after the Fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum (AHRF 2022) on 28 October in the Philippines. To view it, visit: https://caphraorg.net/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/manila-declaration-2022-signed.pdf
Access to the live stream of the Asia Harm Reduction Forum is now available on the AHRF 2022 YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o1hXi4aAak
