ASOG publishes study titled “Opportunities for plain packaging of tobacco products in the Philippines: results of a nationwide online survey”

On 26 September 2024, the Ateneo Policy Center’s Tobacco Control and Governance team published their study titled “Opportunities for plain packaging of tobacco products in the Philippines: result of a nationwide online survey” in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Public Health. In this paper, Non-Resident Fellow Gianna Gayle Amul, PhD, Research Assistants Eunice Mallari and John Rafael Arda, and Program Manager Alen Santiago assessed Filipinos’ perception of the effectiveness of plain packaging and their readiness for its implementation through an assessment of its potential impact.

Plain packaging, or standardized packaging, is an anti-tobacco regulation that aims to reduce the attraction of consumers to tobacco-related products through minimizing features of the packaging that can influence consumers. This includes aspects such as pack design, colors, and brand names. Currently, there are only 24 countries that have implemented plain packaging on tobacco products, 8 of which are from Asia. The Philippines is behind these countries as it implements pictorial warnings on packs on only 50% of its surface area compared to the minimum 75% that plain packaging requires. A Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill (Senate Bill No. 2191) was filed during the 17^th Congress in 2019, but it is still pending as of now.

A follow-up study to ASOG’s 2023 publication titled “Graphic health warnings and plain packaging in the Philippines: results of online and household surveys”, the paper highlights the feasibility of adopting plain packaging measures in the country by focusing on Filipino consumers’ perceptions on its features and implementation. The study is part of the Tobacco Control and Governance team’s continuing efforts to advance the conversation of stronger anti-tobacco policies in the Philippines and to build local evidence crucial in evidence-based policymaking and addressing challenges in legislation and industry interference.

On 26 September 2024, the Ateneo Policy Center’s Tobacco Control and Governance team published their study titled “Opportunities for plain packaging of tobacco products in the Philippines: result of a nationwide online survey” in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Public Health. In this paper, Non-Resident Fellow Gianna Gayle Amul, PhD, Research Assistants Eunice Mallari and John Rafael Arda, and Program Manager Alen Santiago assessed Filipinos’ perception of the effectiveness of plain packaging and their readiness for its implementation through an assessment of its potential impact.

Plain packaging, or standardized packaging, is an anti-tobacco regulation that aims to reduce the attraction of consumers to tobacco-related products through minimizing features of the packaging that can influence consumers. This includes aspects such as pack design, colors, and brand names. Currently, there are only 24 countries that have implemented plain packaging on tobacco products, 8 of which are from Asia. The Philippines is behind these countries as it implements pictorial warnings on packs on only 50% of its surface area compared to the minimum 75% that plain packaging requires. A Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill (Senate Bill No. 2191) was filed during the 17^th Congress in 2019, but it is still pending as of now.

A follow-up study to ASOG’s 2023 publication titled “Graphic health warnings and plain packaging in the Philippines: results of online and household surveys”, the paper highlights the feasibility of adopting plain packaging measures in the country by focusing on Filipino consumers’ perceptions on its features and implementation. The study is part of the Tobacco Control and Governance team’s continuing efforts to advance the conversation of stronger anti-tobacco policies in the Philippines and to build local evidence crucial in evidence-based policymaking and addressing challenges in legislation and industry interference.