"For the first time in our country's legislative history, we have achieved a nationally differentiated regulatory framework to govern vaping products and HTP heated tobacco products." Dr. Lorenzo Mata, director of the nonprofit Quit for Good, a core figure in the Philippines' movement for balanced regulation Say. Among other features, the law requires a separate designation of public vaping areas where smoking is prohibited, making a clear distinction between the two.

While some Asian countries have banned the sale of safer nicotine substitutes, the Philippine model can serve as a key counterpoint.

Dr. Mata is speaking at the 5th Asian Harm Reduction Forum (AHRF), an annual conference that brings together doctors, policy experts and consumers from across the continent where most of the world's tobacco users live, on October 28 in Manila rights advocate. While some Asian countries such as India and Thailand have banned the sale of safer nicotine substitutes, the Philippine model — enacted in July after a backlash from anti-vaping groups — could serve as a key counterpoint. (Duterte had previously banned vaping products through an executive order.)

“About half of the provisions of the Philippine e-cigarette law are designed to safeguard the welfare of minors,” Dr. Matta continued, adding that it prohibits minors from purchasing or using e-cigarettes and HTP, imposing restrictions on their display at the point of sale Severe restrictions, and near schools, ban the use of flavor descriptions that may appeal to children, and impose severe financial penalties on businesses that violate these rules.

"This law was developed as a harm reduction strategy to reduce the number of smokers and steer them towards less harmful products," co-author Ace Barbers, MP, said at the meeting. “Our goal is not to convince non-smokers, especially Filipino minors, to embrace e-cigarettes. That’s why this law, while allowing for a switch to e-cigarettes for harm reduction goals, is very strict in enforcement to prevent non-smoking used by smokers.”

This emphasis on preventing teenage tobacco use will be criticized by many tobacco harm reduction (THR) advocates, because encouraging people of any age to switch—often with the help of flavor—should be a priority. Yet the law represents an encouraging pragmatic compromise in the context of a country with tougher drug laws. It is progressive because it allows products with proven risk reduction claims and a willingness to incorporate scientific evidence and research data into governance strategies.

A key obstacle, however, is that tobacco research and harm reduction research in low- and middle-income countries is still very scarce. To address this gap, Dr. Rosana Ulep, a public health researcher and chair of the Department of Dental Services at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, proposed a meta-analysis comparing the harms of smoking in the country with e-cigarettes and other factors.

Data-rich analysis validates approaches to harm reduction; the country has one of the highest rates of adult smoking in the world, with 10 Filipinos dying every hour from smoking-related diseases. While substantial increases in tobacco taxes since 2013 have led to an overall decline in smoking prevalence and related mortality, the total number of smoking and deaths has remained the same or is rising, and the illicit market has swelled. Allowing and encouraging smokers to reduce risk through differential taxation and safety-checked nicotine replacements will accelerate smoking reductions.

The AHRF also heard presentations on THR policy and advocacy from experts and consumer groups who spoke about the need for similar laws in other countries.

David Sweanor, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa who has studied tobacco policy for more than 20 years, provides historical context for opposing THR products as their relative safety and smoking-replacement potential are well established.

“With innovation, there is often a strong focus on unexpected risks without due consideration of the risks of inaction,” he said. “But innovation is impossible to stop, especially when it comes to tobacco alternatives. The incentive for anyone to become a billionaire by selling safer nicotine products is high—they only need to capture a thousandth of the $800 billion tobacco market One. Consumers are also aware of the risks of tobacco, and if given a choice, they are willing to make changes.”

"The widening gap in smoking rates and mortality between these two countries will ultimately prove who is right."

The biggest country opposed to the innovation is India, which banned e-cigarettes and HTPs in 2019 despite more than 100 million citizens smoking and 1 million of them dying from related diseases each year.

Jagannath Sarangapani - member of the Indian Consumer Nonprofit Association (AVI) and board member of the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations (INNCO), a group of more than 30 national agencies - says the Philippine model will be useful to other low- and middle-income countries How to regulate these products is being considered. "The widening gap in smoking rates and mortality between these two countries will ultimately prove who is right," he said.

Asa Saligupta, head of consumer group ECST in Thailand, another country that has banned the sale of safer nicotine alternatives, said: "Even our prime minister is in favour of lifting the ban, so vapers may see a light s future. However, he stressed that harassment of e-cigarette users is still rampant. While personal use and possession of e-cigarettes is not prohibited, police continue to fine, arrest and even bribe e-cigarette users.

Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine Vaping Industry Association, which represents more than 200 shop owners, suppliers and manufacturers, said the vaping law strikes the right balance between product safety, preventing accidental use and maximizing the potential of adults. Smokers switch to better alternatives. He added that by ensuring that only online and online-registered suppliers can sell these products, the government can also hope to increase revenue while discouraging unscrupulous illegal operators.

However, the Philippines' 16 million smokers still have some way to go before they can benefit, as implementation of the law is still being worked out, said Pater Dator, president of Vapers Ph, the country's leading consumer nonprofit and partner organization. He suggested some agencies were trying to interfere in the ongoing deliberations, raising concerns about the law's intentions to be overturned.

"The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control fails the 8 million people who die each year from unsafe tobacco products."

Consumers are often excluded from tobacco control meetings, but their voices are a key part of AHRF discussions. Nancy Loucas, executive director of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), expressed concerns about tobacco and safer nicotine users, saying that while e-cigarette users exercise by staying away from deadly combustibles have their right to health, but a right in the statutes of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, they are regarded as pariahs and despised by global health organizations.

In her paper introducing the anti-THR stance taken by the WHO FCTC, the WHO FCTC fails the 8 million people who die each year from unsafe tobacco products. Until that changes, billions of people will continue to be harmed and die from preventable causes.

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