Dentists in the Philippines encourage smokers to switch to e-cigarettes.
"If smoking patients don't quit smoking, we will see more dead patients due to oral cancer," Dr. Fernando Fernandez told the Manila Times.
Dentists in the Philippines are encouraging smokers to switch to e-cigarettes. It reports Manila Times newspaper. This follows a statement by the Philippine Dental Association, PCOMS, which is now raising its voice in an infected debate on vejping and tobacco harm reduction in the country.
As Vejpkollen previously reported e-cigarettes have caused a political storm in the Philippines. What started with a total ban on all vejp products, later replaced by tough regulations, has evolved into an international corruption scandal. At the center of it all is the Philippine Department of Public Health, which, according to its own admission, received money from US anti-tobacco groups to fund tobacco control in the country.
Dentists: switch to e-cigarettes
The Philippine media has covered the events continuously and criticism has been harsh, especially against the American Bloomberg Foundation. The foundation, which funds much of the WHO's work on tobacco policy, has been accused of modern colonialism in its efforts to ban less harmful alternatives to smoking
In the context of a major investigation into e-cigarettes and the criticized laws, the Philippines' largest dental association chose to make its position known.
"We try to persuade our patients to stop smoking. If they cannot quit otherwise, we advise them to switch to alternative, smokeless options, such as e-cigarettes, to ditch nicotine" says dentist Dr. Fernando Fernandez in the Manila Times
Want to reduce the risk of oral cancer
Smoking causes oral cancer, among other things, and according to Dr. Fernando Fernandez, all dentists should advocate harm reduction to reduce deaths among smoking patients. The association says the recommendation is based on scientific evidence and a broad consensus among health scientists and doctors on harm reduction.
"If smokers continue to smoke, we will see more patient deaths due to oral cancer," Dr. Fernando Fernandez told the Manila Times.
