烟草在线据《马尼拉公报》报道编译　　美国癌症协会和世界肺脏基金会6月26日公布的数据显示，尽管存在限制吸烟的法律，菲律宾男性吸烟者的人数仍然跻身于世界前列，全球排名第九，排在印度和中国之后。

　　2008年的数据显示，卫生署（DOH）曾试图强调通过罪恶税法案的紧迫性。

　　世界烟草地图手册上男性吸烟率排在菲律宾之前的还有印度尼西亚、俄罗斯、美国、日本、孟加拉国和巴基斯坦。

　　中国男性吸烟者的人数以311,203,202人位列榜首，其次是印度的229,392,725人，印尼53,392,709人，俄罗斯32,827,525人，美国32,474,518人，孟加拉国21,453,341人，巴基斯坦17,723,216人，以及排名第九的菲律宾，17,634,512人。

　　同时，菲律宾的女性吸烟者也增加了很多，该国的女性烟民人数排名从2006年的第26位攀升至2008年的第16位。

　　排在首位的是美国的女性烟民，为23,671,860人，其次是中国13,532,810人，印度11,908,517人，俄罗斯10,189,820人和菲律宾3,848,908人。

　　2009年的全球成人烟草调查显示，菲律宾15岁及以上的成年吸烟者达到1730万人，其中男性1460万人，女性280万人。

　　同时，五分之一的年龄在13岁至15岁的青少年也抽烟。

　　卫生署表示，目前有2390万菲律宾人每天都暴露于二手烟，66.7%的工人暴露在工作场所的二手烟环境，而75.7%的工人每天暴露在没有反烟政策的场所的二手烟烟雾里。

　　此外，近2800万菲律宾人在过去30天里使用公共交通工具的同时，也暴露于二手烟。

　　但更令人担忧的是，每天平均有10人死于与烟草有关的疾病。

　　“虽然政府每年的烟草税收收入约有230亿比索，但用于生产产品和治疗癌症、慢性阻塞性肺病、中风等四大烟草相关疾病的医疗费用造成的经济损失，保守估计每年约为1490亿比索，”2008年世界卫生组织《烟草与贫困》研究报告中表示。

　　进一步的研究表明，菲律宾有三分之一的人口受到衰弱性疾病和烟草使用的死亡威胁。

　　“每月平均家庭收入大约5100比索的菲律宾家庭，会花费约2.6%的家庭收入用于购买烟草产品，这远超过他们在教育和健康上的花费，这些开支分别仅占收入的1.6%和1.3%，”研究表示。

　　世卫组织建议，烟草消费税必须至少占烟草零售价格的70%。

　　非政府组织Health Justice建议废除价格分类冻结，应该建立适用于所有烟草产品的统一税收系统。它还建议每盒卷烟的消费税税率应为30%，且应随着通胀水平不断上调。

Filipinos Among World’s Top Smokers - Survey

　　MANILA, Philippines - Despite the existence of laws that limit smoking, male Filipino smokers are among the top smokers in the world occupying the ninth spot following India and China among others, data from the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation revealed on Tuesday.

　　The 2008 data was revealed by the Department of Health (DoH) as it sought to emphasize the urgency of the passage of the sin tax bill.

　　Other top male smokers in the world tobacco atlas ahead of the Philippines are Indonesia, the Russian Federation, USA, Japan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

　　Male Chinese smokers took the top spot with 311,203,202, followed by India with 229,392,725; Indonesia, 53,392,709; the Russian Federation, 32,827,525; USA, 32,474,518; Bangladesh, 21,453,3412; Pakistan; 17,723, 216; and the Philippines on ninth spot with 17,634,512.

　　Meanwhile, female Filipino smokers are also a worsening lot as they climbed from the 26th spot in 2006 to 16th place in 2008.

　　Topping the list are American female smokers at 23,671,860; China, 13,532,810; India, 11,908,517; the Russian Federation, 10,189,820 and the Philippines, 3,848,908.

　　The Philippines' global adult tobacco survey in 2009 revealed that adult current smokers 15 years and above reached 17.3 million with 14.6 million males and 2.8 million females.

　　Meanwhile, one in five youth aged 13 to 15 years old currently smoke cigarettes.

　　The DOH said 23.9 million Filipinos are exposed to tobacco smoke daily with 66.7 percent of workers exposed to second hand smoke in worksites and 75.7 percent of workers are exposed to second hand smoke where there is no anti-smoking policy.

　　Moreover, almost 28 million Filipinos who used public transportation during the past 30 days were also exposed.

　　But what is more alarming is that 10 Filipinos die daily because of tobacco-related diseases.

　　"Although government revenue from tobacco taxes is about P23 Billion annually, economic losses due to productivity and heath care costs of the top four tobacco related diseases: Cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and stroke are conservatively estimated at P149 Billion annually," the 2008 Tobacco and Poverty study of the WHO said.

　　The study further said that one-third of the Philippine population is at risk of dying from debilitating diseases and tobacco use.

　　"The average Filipino household earning about P5,100 monthly spends approximately 2.6 percent of the household income on tobacco, which is more than they spend on education and heatlh which is 1.6 percent and health at 1.3 percent respectively," the study added.

　　The WHO recommends that tobacco excise tax must be at least 70 percent of the tobacco retail prices.

　　Non-government organization Health Justice recommends the removal of price classification freeze and a unitary system of taxation applied across all tobacco products. It also recommends a high tax rate of at least P30 per box and a taxation rate that is pegged to inflation.