DOH warns vaping is not safer than smoking

The Department of Health reiterated its stance against vaping this Saturday amid discussions on raising the excise tax on tobacco this past week at the House of Representatives.

Health Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa maintained during a radio interview that the department will continue to advise against the use of vape as an alternative to cigarette smoking, as both pose irreversible health risks to their users.

Aside from common respiratory illnesses as a result of smoking, Herbosa brought up the medical condition known as E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI), which he said resulted in the death of a 22-year-old male who had no history of smoking in 2025.

“Ito yung bagong illness na lumabas lang nung nag-umpisa ng gumamit ang karamihan nitong e-cigarette, nitong vape products,” he explained. (This is a new illness that only appeared when most people began using e-cigarettes and vape products.)

“Iba iba siya, meron nagiging popcorn lang, merong nangingitim yung lungs parang chronic smoker for many years, yung damage sa lungs permanent,” Herbosa added. (It varies. In some cases, it causes popcorn lung. In others, the lungs blacken like those of a chronic smoker for many years, and the lung damage is permanent.)

The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallied 68 total deaths and over 2,800 hospitalizations as a result of an EVALI outbreak that happened between 2019 and 2020.

Herbosa also revealed that the Philippines remains one of only three countries in the Southeast Asia region that have yet to impose a complete ban on vapes altogether.

The health secretary attributed this fact to the Philippines being a tobacco-producing country, stating that legislators and regulators are stuck trying to find a balance between health and profitability.

However, he later said that the imposition of a sin tax on vapes and cigarettes has had a positive effect, not only in reducing smokers but also in improving the budget of the health sector.

“After the sin taxes, bumaba yung statistics natin, it used to be 27.9 percent prevalence of smokers…nung pumasa yung sin tax, bumagsak to as low as 19 percent,” Herbosa said. (After the sin taxes, our statistics dropped. It used to be a 27.9 percent prevalence of smokers. When the sin tax was passed, it fell to as low as 19 percent.)

Herbosa said that prior to its implementation, nearly 30 percent of the population smoked cigarettes. Since then, the percentage has dropped to as low as 19.

Moreover, based on the DOH’s observations, vaping was prevalent among children, as Herbosa noted that they saw it as a “cool” thing to do.

He urged children to quit vaping, as its health risks far outweighed its supposed “healthier” factor compared to cigarettes.

“Wag kayong malulong sa vaping. If you’re kids and you think that’s cool mali po kayo…maapektuhan ang baga niyo, ang puso niyo, ang kalusugan niyo,” stressed Herbosa. (Do not get addicted to vaping. If you are kids and you think that’s cool, you are wrong…your lungs, your heart, and your overall health will be affected.)