Hanoi (VNA) – Philippinepolice on November 20 began enforcing a ban imposed by President RodrigoDuterte on the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces.

In a statement, acting national policechief of the Philippines Lieutenant-General Archie Gamboa said law enforcers havebeen ordered to arrest those "vaping" in public.

Addressing a press conference on November19, the Philippine President said the use and importation of e-cigarettes wouldbe banned, but did not provide a precise timeline.

The push to ban e-cigarettes in thePhilippines gathered steam after health authorities confirmed that a16-year-old girl last month showed signs of a lung injury related to her heavyuse of e-cigarettes for six months.

According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), about 24 percent of Filipino adults are daily smokers. Before Duterte’spresidency, the Philippines already had a ban on tobacco advertising, as wellas a law that requires graphic images of smoking health hazards to be printedon cigarette packaging.

In a report unveiled in July, the WHOwarned that e-cigarettes are toxic and have not proven to be effective athelping smokers quit.

In September, India became the latestcountry to ban the import, sale, production and advertising of e-cigarettes,citing in particular concerns about its youth.

The devices are already banned in severalplaces such as Brazil, Singapore, Thailand and some states of the US./.