Over the past years, Vietnam has recorded encouraging results in tobacco harm prevention and control. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The smokingrate among male adults in Vietnam has decreased over the past years but remainsone of the highest in the world, heard a press conference in Hanoi on May 23.
Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of theMinistry of Health’s Department of Medical Service Administration, citedstatistics as showing that tobacco use kills about 8 million people around theworld each year, including some 1 million as the result of non-smokers exposedto second-hand smoke. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that theworld loses about 1.4 trillion USD to tobacco use annually.
Smoking is also a cause of increaseddeforestation and environmental pollution, he said, elaborating that about 5%of the global forest area is destroyed for tobacco farming and wood from 18 billiontrees is needed for tobacco drying each year. Smoking also releases 3,000 - 6,000tonnes of formaldehyde, 12,000 - 47,000 tonnes of nicotine, and 300 - 600 millionkilogrammes of toxic waste from cigarette filters every year.
Over the past years, Vietnam hasrecorded encouraging results in tobacco harm prevention and control. The malesmoking rate has fallen to 42.3% from 45.3% in 2015. The country has prevented 280,000 premature deaths from diseases related to tobacco use. According to WHOestimates, about 1.277 trillion VND (54.4 million USD) in expenses was saved annuallyduring 2015 - 2020 thanks to the decreased rate of diseases linked with tobaccouse.
However, Khue added, Vietnam isstill one of the 15 countries with the highest smoking rates among male adults.The decline in the tobacco use rate has yet to reach the target set in thestrategy for tobacco harm prevention and control.
He blamed that fact on the low tobaccotax and prices, which have facilitated the youth and poor people’s access totobacco. The emergence of new and diverse e-cigarettes and heated tobacco productshas attracted even more people, especially the young, to tobacco use.
Nguyen Thi An, Director of HealthBridgeCanada Vietnam, underlined tobacco harms to public health, especially children.She also pointed out that people in the country spent 49 trillion VND on buyingtobacco in 2020, while treatment costs and expenses from the loss of working capacitydue to illnesses and premature deaths from five of the 25 groups of smoking-causeddiseases stood at 24 trillion VND.
She recommended Vietnam enhanceenforcing the Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control; step up inspectionand examination to strictly deal with violations in tobacco use, advertising,promotion, sponsorship, and trading; raise the special consumption tax ontobacco; and increase prices.
The Government should also ban thecirculation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products as recommended by theHealth Ministry and WHO while boosting communications to promote publicawareness of tobacco harm and child protection in this regard, An added./.
Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of theMinistry of Health’s Department of Medical Service Administration, citedstatistics as showing that tobacco use kills about 8 million people around theworld each year, including some 1 million as the result of non-smokers exposedto second-hand smoke. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that theworld loses about 1.4 trillion USD to tobacco use annually.
Smoking is also a cause of increaseddeforestation and environmental pollution, he said, elaborating that about 5%of the global forest area is destroyed for tobacco farming and wood from 18 billiontrees is needed for tobacco drying each year. Smoking also releases 3,000 - 6,000tonnes of formaldehyde, 12,000 - 47,000 tonnes of nicotine, and 300 - 600 millionkilogrammes of toxic waste from cigarette filters every year.
Over the past years, Vietnam hasrecorded encouraging results in tobacco harm prevention and control. The malesmoking rate has fallen to 42.3% from 45.3% in 2015. The country has prevented 280,000 premature deaths from diseases related to tobacco use. According to WHOestimates, about 1.277 trillion VND (54.4 million USD) in expenses was saved annuallyduring 2015 - 2020 thanks to the decreased rate of diseases linked with tobaccouse.
However, Khue added, Vietnam isstill one of the 15 countries with the highest smoking rates among male adults.The decline in the tobacco use rate has yet to reach the target set in thestrategy for tobacco harm prevention and control.
He blamed that fact on the low tobaccotax and prices, which have facilitated the youth and poor people’s access totobacco. The emergence of new and diverse e-cigarettes and heated tobacco productshas attracted even more people, especially the young, to tobacco use.
Nguyen Thi An, Director of HealthBridgeCanada Vietnam, underlined tobacco harms to public health, especially children.She also pointed out that people in the country spent 49 trillion VND on buyingtobacco in 2020, while treatment costs and expenses from the loss of working capacitydue to illnesses and premature deaths from five of the 25 groups of smoking-causeddiseases stood at 24 trillion VND.
She recommended Vietnam enhanceenforcing the Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control; step up inspectionand examination to strictly deal with violations in tobacco use, advertising,promotion, sponsorship, and trading; raise the special consumption tax ontobacco; and increase prices.
The Government should also ban thecirculation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products as recommended by theHealth Ministry and WHO while boosting communications to promote publicawareness of tobacco harm and child protection in this regard, An added./.
VNA
