World No Tobacco Day marked in Vietnam

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan noted that smoking is a leading cause of more than eight million deaths globally each year. Of the figure, more than seven million people have died from direct tobacco use and about 1.2 million people have died as a result of passive smoking.

In Vietnam, he said the prevention and control of tobacco has achieved remarkable results. Especially, the smoking rate among young people aged 15 to 24 has decreased over the years, from 26% in 2015 to 13% in 2020. Among children aged 13 to 15, the rate has also fallen from 2.5% in 2014 to 1.9% in 2022.

However, the health official also stated that apart from the initial success, Vietnam remains in the group of countries with the highest number of smokers in the world. Most notably, the rate of e-cigarette smoking has increased by 18 times.

Dr. Angela Pratt, representative of the World Health Organisation in Vietnam, said smoking claims at least 40,000 lives in Vietnam every year.

To reduce the smoking rate by 30% by 2030, she suggested that Vietnam raise taxes and tobacco prices, saying tobacco sold in Vietnam is currently among the cheapest in the world.

Furthermore, she underscored the importance of preventing and controlling the use of new tobacco products as these products are still marketed and advertised in ways that are misleading to vulnerable young people.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Fund for Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control, the fund will help to strengthen dissemination on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes on social media to provide timely information directly to young people and students.