Hanoi (VNS/VNA) — Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Cityare piloting programmes to reduce smoking.

The cities are trying to encourage people not tosmoke in hospitals, hotels, restaurants and bus stations in order to reduce theharmful effects of passive smoking.

Phan Thu Huong, deputy head of Respiratory Centreunder Bach Mai Hospital, said at a recent workshop that the hospital had not only printedposters and leaflets but also improved the capacity for doctors and medicalstaff so that they could consult smokers about harmful effects of tobacco andgive them smoking cessation methods.

The meeting was held in Hanoi by the Ministry ofInformation and Communication, aiming to provide data for local media aboutprojects implementing smoke-free environments in Hanoi and HCM City.

Huong also said the hospital conducted asurvey among 300 smokers. Results showed 81.8 per cent of smokers intended toquit smoking, 89.3 per cent of smokers wanted to be advised to quit smoking and64.7 per cent of smokers want to get free advice via phone calls.

The hospitals had directly consulted about15,400 patients who smoked since 2017 and consulted via hotline (18006606) formore than 33,400 smokers since 2015, she added.     

Tran Thi Thanh Nhan, head of Health Office of Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District, said the district administration launched the project ofsmoke-free restaurants and hotels in 2017.

There were 109 of the total 254 localrestaurants and hotels installed smoke-free signs so far, she said.

The district had already piloted a smoke-freetourism model in 30 destinations, including famous landmarks such as Ngoc SonTemple, Ba Kieu Temple, Vietnam National Museum of History, Vietnam Museum of Revolution,Quan Su Pagoda, Ba Đa Pagoda, Hanoi Opera House, St Joseph's Cathedral, andNational Library of Vietnam.

She said the model had already installedno-smoking signs at many locations.

Anyone caught smoking in prohibited areas willbe fined between 100,000 – 300,000 VND (4.3-13 USD). Restaurants not displaying signs willbe fined between 3-5 million VND.

Ho Quy Vinh,head of Sai Gon Bus Station said the station had run a project to reduce passive smokingat public transport locations between November 2018 and October 2020.

The project aims to halve the rate of passivesmoking in public transport locations in the city by 2020, he said.

Vinh said the city had installed smoke-freesigns in six bus stations and 500 bus stops in the city, adding inspection teams were set up to warn and fine anyone violating regulations.
Vo ThanhLam, head of the ministry's Legal Department said according to the WorldHealth Organisation, cigarette smoke not only affected smokers but alsopolluted the environment and caused non-smokers to suffer similar diseases.

One of the effective solutions to reduce theharmful effects to non-smokers was to set up a smoke-free model in hospitals,hotels and restaurants.
Lâm said in the modern life, meeting atrestaurants and hotels became more popular. So, building a smoke-free environmentwas necessary to protect the right to live in a clean environment ofnon-smokers./.