Smokers in Number

By: Zirah Sardoma

Cigarettes smokers have reached a million in number just in the whole nation. If you will look at every corner of the streets you will see smokers sipping at their sticks and contributing on air population distraction on a public place. Cigarettes smoker population has getting wide and huge as time goes by. Even now at the millennial stage that most of the smoker starts smoking at their teen age years.

A of 2009, less than six million people died from tabacco smoking. It includes the second hand smoking where you got outside for a ride and accidentally inhaled tabacco smoke.

According to a 2009 survey conducted under the auspices of the Philippines’ Department of Health, National Statistics Office, the World Health Organization, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28.3% of the population are “current tobacco smokers”. This figure represents 17.3 million of 61.3 million adult Filipinos.

Of the 17.3 million Filipino adults who are smokers, 48% or 14.6 million are males and 9% or 2.8 million are females. In addition, 23% of Filipino adults are daily tobacco smokers; 38.2% for males, who on the average smoked 11 cigarettes a day, and 6.9% for females, who on average smoked 7 cigarettes per day .Nearly half (48%) of the adult smokers had made an attempt to quit, however, only 5% were successful. Second-hand tobacco smoke is also a concern. More than half (55%) of adults who use public transportation are exposed to it. In work-places, with no anti-smoking policy, more than 75% of workers are exposed. A survey conducted by the Department of Health in 2007 determined that 1 in 5 Filipino students is a cigarette smoker. Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke was also high for the student population, with 7 in 10 exposed to second-hand smoke around other people outside the home. In addition, more than half of the students had a parent who was as smoker. (source: http://www.aventusmedical.com)