Twenty-eight percent or 17.3 million Filipino adults age 15 years and older are current tobacco smokers, according to the results of the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). Almost half (48 percent or 14.6 million) of adult males and 9 percent (2.8 million) of adult females are current smokers. Moreover, 23 percent of Filipino adults are daily tobacco smokers: 38 percent for males and 7 percent for females.

Filipinos mainly smoke cigarettes, which include manufactured cigarettes and hand-rolled cigarettes. Cigarettes are smoked by 47 percent of men and by 9 percent of women. On the average, male daily smokers consume 11 cigarettes per day while female daily smokers consume 7 cigarettes per day.

Among adults who smoked 12 months before the survey, 48 percent made a quit attempt, while only 5 percent made a quit attempt and successfully quit smoking.

More than one-third (37 percent) of adults who worked indoors or outdoors with an enclosed area at their workplace were exposed to tobacco smoke. Among adults who used public transportation a month prior to the survey, more than half (55 percent) were exposed to second-hand smoke, while among those who visited government buildings or offices, more than one-third (37 percent) were exposed to second-hand smoke. .

The Philippines 2009 GATS is a nationally representative household survey of the population 15 years of age and older. It was designed to collect information on respondents; background characteristics; patterns of tobacco use; former/past tobacco consumption; age of initiation of daily smoking; consumption of different tobacco products (cigarettes, pipes, cigars and other smoked tobacco); nicotine dependence; frequency of quit attempts; exposure to second-hand smoke; and knowledge about health effects of smoking among others. Survey data were collected electronically during personal interviews conducted from September 10 to October 12, 2009.

Funding for the GATS was provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use. Data collection was implemented by the NSO. Other GATS partners include the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CDC Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, RTI International, Department of Health, and the National Institutes of Health.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator