Graphic health warnings on cigarette packs are effective “disincentives” to smoking.

Thus said Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral as she maintained that the administrative order she issued mandating the use of graphic health warnings on the packages of tobacco products was not flawed as claimed by some tobacco companies.

The Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI) had earlier said that Cabral’s administrative order was “contrary to law’’ as it is in violation of the Tobacco Regulation Act (TRA) of 2003.

The law prohibits the printing of any other health warning on cigarette packs other than those specified by law, the PTI said.

Under Section 13 (g) of the law, “no other printed warnings, except the health warning and the message required (by the law) shall be placed on cigarette packages.”

The group said that the health secretary should rescind her order immediately because it is “defective and deplorable.’’

Cabral said she anticipated the tobacco companies to contest her directive.

But she maintained that she did not violate any law as her order “covers only textual warnings.”

“We will continue to push for its implementation, because we did not violate any rules here. The use of graphic health information on cigarette packs, as experienced in nearly 40 countries, is still the most effective way to discourage smokers,’’ she said.

“In addition, it is the law of the land as it is in an international treaty that we are party to,’’ said Cabral.

As a signatory to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Philippines is required to “implement large, rotating health warnings on all tobacco product packaging and labeling."

The Philippines is also expected to meet the FCTC's three-year deadline from ratification. Cabral said the Philippines is already two years behind schedule, and should be able to catch up.

To date, 38 countries and territories – including neighboring Thailand and Singapore – have already implemented the printing of picture-based warnings of cigarette packs, while 27 other member-states of the European Union have also recommended its implementation.

The health chief noted that it will not be hard for tobacco manufacturers to alter product packaging since they are also the ones who print and export packages with graphic warnings to other Asian nations.

She also urged the tobacco firms "to find alternative industry," stressing that the DoH "will not stop until it can put an end to smoking in the country.''

Smoking is the single biggest cause of lung cancer globally, and can also cause many other cancers and illnesses.

The WHO had earlier warned that about 8- million people worldwide are expected to die by 2030 due to tobacco-related disease if the current trends continue. Of those deaths, 80 per cent will be in low and middle- income countries.