The development of schools and school projects are greatly funded by the partnership of public and private sectors as well as non-government organizations. And the healthy partnership leads to successful results of the goals the schools want to achieve. But Secretary Leonor M. Briones reminded the teachers and school officials from accepting gifts and donations from organizations like tobacco industries which is a good move to guard schools from the influence of tobacco that undermine the mandate related to DepEd which is the promotion of healthy environment .
When we hear tobacco, the number one thing that comes to our mind is cigarette and when there is cigarette there is smoking. Smoking is dangerous to the user and to the one who is inhaling it as according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it leads to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary heart disease, stroke, clot formation and high blood pressure due to narrowing of blood vessels. Partnership with tobacco industries is against Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) that aims to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference or the broad array of tactics and strategies utilized by the tobacco industry to influence or interfere with the setting and implementation of tobacco control policies. When we are referring to public health then we mean the “people in general” the “people in our community” that’s why schools are included since it is found in the community. The reminder of Secretary Briones among schools is reasonable and valid logically considering the movement of almost all municipalities in the Philippines towards “smoke-free municipality” where they put posters of a deformed child emphasizing the health effects of smoking to the body.
When making partnership, we all should be careful by being reminded of our aims for the sake of our community.
By: Ms. Ana Rosette S. Garcia | Jose Rizal Institute
