Tobacco use is the leading cause of death and diseases in the Philippines. At present, there is a growing population of Filipinos children getting hooked to the lifelong addiction to nicotine and increasing prevalence of smoking-caused diseases inflicting millions of Filipinos. Because of this, efforts to reduce tobacco use must be a public health priority.

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) is cognizant of this need and in an effort to help address this concern, has created the Advocacy Committee on Tobacco Control in 2008. Its goal is to ensure effective public health literacy on tobacco use as a medical condition or illness, patient empowerment and eventually a decrease in mortality and morbidity in the country.

On May 2008 during the Opening Ceremonies of the 38th PCP Annual Convention, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the following government agencies and private organizations to sustain this advocacy on tobacco control : Department of Education, Commission on Higher< Education, Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Philippine College of Chest Physicians, Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians (Philippine Chapter), Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance of the Philippines, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, Philippine College of Pharmaceutical Medicine, IBC 13,RPN 9.