The Truth About Smoking
By Frolic Tan Lopez
PUBLISHED: JUNE 2009
THE MARLBORO MAN, with his Stetson hat and cowboy boots, gave a face to millions of cigarette smokers worldwide as he exuded virility and masculinity, traits stereotypically associated with smoking.
The advertisement remains, but its stars are long gone. Wayne McLaren, the Marlboro Man in the promotional photographs first published in 1976, died of lung cancer on July 22, 1992. The other Marlboro Man in the advertisement, David McLean, suffered severe emphysema and died of lung malignancy in 1995.
So, what is the truth about smoking?
DESTRUCTION BY SMOKE
“Smoking is extremely addictive, and the cigarette is the vehicle that initiates and sustains the addiction,” warns Dr. Daniel Tan, president of Tobacco-Free Philippines (TFP).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III acknowledges that smoking kills, saying that three Filipinos die every hour from tobacco use. “There is absolutely nothing beneficial about it,” he says. “It is harmful (physically) because it causes wrinkles, baldness, darkened lips and gums, and yellow teeth and nails, making you look old and ugly. It is harmful to others, who will not only be turned off by your bad breath, but may receive so much exposure from secondhand smoke that they will inevitably die from lung cancer or heart disease. And it is harmful to one’s manhood as it causes erectile dysfunction and impotence.”
Unless smokers immediately stop their habit, they can end up being among the projected 10 million people who will die by 2020, Duque warns. Of this figure, 70% are expected to come from developing countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a third of the world’s male adult population smokes. Among teenagers aged 13 to 15, one out of five is a smoker. In the Philippines, 60% of male adults and 11% of female adults smoke.
Curiously, while the smoking rate in developed countries has declined through the years, it continues to rise in developing nations, the WHO states. The Philippines alone ranks first in sales for Philip Morris International’s Asian region market. The country is also the 15th biggest consumer of cigarettes in the world and the largest consumer among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“The WHO is saying that 80% of today’s smokers live in developing countries, with tobacco consumption rising by 3.4% per year,” says Dr. Dante Morales, former president of the Philippine Heart Association and the Philippine College of Physicians.
One probable reason for the disparity is that developed countries have adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that aims to reduce tobacco-related diseases and deaths worldwide. Developing countries have not. Thus, measures such as bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, increases in tobacco taxes and prices, and the inclusion of large, clear, graphic health messages in tobacco packaging are already applied in developed countries, but largely ignored in developing nations.
COST OF SMOKING
WHO studies also show that in low-income countries, smokers spend 10% to 17% of total household expenditures on tobacco, significantly reducing the money that is supposed to be used for essential items, such as food, healthcare and education.
But the cost of smoking involves a great deal more than money.
Smokers have a greater risk of dying young, or of having medical problems, with smoking-related diseases killing one in 10 adults globally, or 4.9 million people per year. It is predicted that by 2020, smoking will claim 10 million lives per year since every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of a smoker’s life.
These risks are reflected on the premium payments of smokers who pay more for health care and prescription medicines because of increased medical problems. Smoking leads to or aggravates lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, osteoporosis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and diabetes.
Dental care also costs more for smokers since smoking can damage gums and teeth. Regular use of tobacco leaves yellow stains on the teeth that require special cleaning.
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