New graphic health warnings for tobacco products

New graphic health warnings (GHW) for tobacco products will roll out in March in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10643 or the Graphic Health Warning Law.

According to the GHW Law, 12 variations of the warnings will be rotated every two years or 24 months. The law was implemented on March 3, 2016, nearly two years after it was signed in 2014.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Tuesday at the Department of Health (DOH) that an impact assessment will take place once the new warnings are placed on tobacco products.

Duque said it was necessary to place new graphic warnings every two years to ensure that smokers and potential smokers are reminded of the health hazards of tobacco.

"The old ones, siyempre, takot na sila dun, saturated na, they are somehow numb or immune to it so they just ignore those old graphic warnings. Part of the strategy is we need to make sure that you have new graphic health warnings each time," he said.

While the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is in charge of monitoring the compliance of tobacco companies to the GHW law, Duque still urged tobacco companies to remember the hazardous effects of tobacco to their consumers' health.

"Hangga't sa maari, maging sensitibo sa epekto ng sigarilyo at ito'y talagang tunay na banta sa kalusugan ng ating kabataan, na mahaba ang epekto nito hanggang sila ay tumanda, ay kung iba ay tatanda pa," Duque said.

All cigar and cigarette manufacturers were made to follow the GHW by November 2016.

The GHW Law was passed in an effort to "instill health consciousness" among FIlipinos by showing illnesses that stem from smoking on the packages of tobacco products. —JST, GMA News