No-Smoking Drive Needs Political Will

An official from the Region 7 office of the Department of Health (DoH) believes the strong political will of local leaders is the key to achieving 100 percent enforcement of the government’s campaign against smoking.

Dr. Juditha Tawatao, DoH7 program coordinator for the Stop Smoking Program, said a number of local government units (LGU) in the region already have ordinances banning smoking, but only a handful are fully implemented.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Tawatao rates the DoH anti-smoking drive below five because only few towns in Negros Oriental were diligently enforcing the ban.

“The strong political will of our local leaders is very important to make this fight a success like what happened in the town of Amlan where the mayor himself supported the program by implementing their own local ordinance,” she said.

Amlan has been nationally recognized for its no-smoking campaign. It has received the Red Orchid, an award given to LGUs that are fully implementing the ban.

Mayor Betham dela Cruz said the people of Amlan have embraced no-smoking as a way of life.

Tawatao also lauded the efforts of nearby towns in implementing laws in support of the campaign.

Among the municipalities she mentioned were Zamboanguita, Mabinay and Ayungon.

Dumaguete City, meanwhile, is set to launch its advocacy in July in time for the World No-Tobacco Day celebration.

Tawatao stressed the need to strengthen the campaign because smokers are getting younger and lung cancer, which is linked to smoking, ranks among the top ten causes of deaths among Filipino males.