Cigarette smoke contains up to 7 harmful chemicals, of which 70 are carcinogenic. Therefore, smoking not only affects human health but also causes economic losses for the family and the country.
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| Smoking is harmful to the health of the smoker and the people around him. In the photo: A person smokes at a coffee shop in Bien Hoa City. Photo: PL |
In order to limit the harmful effects of tobacco on public health, the Ministry of Health has just issued regulations on places where smoking is prohibited.
* There are many places where smoking is prohibited
Circular 11/2023/TT-BYT dated May 11, 5 of the Ministry of Health regulating the implementation of smoking-free locations and consideration for awarding tobacco-free environment awards, effective from August 2023 -1 (hereinafter referred to as Circular 8 for short), stipulates places where smoking is completely prohibited indoors and within the premises including: medical facilities; educational institutions; establishments that care, nurture, play and entertain exclusively for children; premises or areas with a high risk of fire or explosion.
In addition, Circular 11 also bans smoking indoors completely at locations that are indoor workplaces of state administrative agencies, public non-business units, businesses, political organizations, and organizations. socio-political organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations and workplaces of other agencies, organizations and units.
Indoor areas of the following public places are also non-smoking: food service establishments; entertainment service establishments; train stations, piers, bus stations; religious and belief establishments; conference center; trade centers, markets; theatres, cultural houses, cinemas, circuses, clubs, sports halls, stadiums; community houses and common areas of apartment buildings and other public places.
Completely ban smoking in cars, airplanes, trains... at isolated areas of the airport; bars, karaoke bars, discos; Hotels, motels, guest houses, resorts and other tourist accommodation establishments…
Notably, Circular 11 clearly stipulates that, at places where smoking is prohibited, it is mandatory to place, print and arrange signs and signs with words or symbols that prohibit smoking with clear messages. , easy to understand, concise; Place it in an easy-to-observe place, where many people pass by…
* Prohibition rules exist, but implementation is not easy
The Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms 2012 took effect from May 1, 5, coming into life for more than 2013 years, regulations on places where smoking is prohibited, the level of punishment for smoking acts in places where smoking is prohibited. public is also available, but the handling of smokers is still very difficult.
| According to Clause 1, Article 25, Decree 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 9 of the Government providing for penalties for administrative violations in the field of health, people who smoke in places where they smoke. If there is a ban, you will be warned or fined from 2020-200 VND. |
Director of Dong Nai General Hospital Ngo Duc Tuan said that the hospital is a place where smoking is prohibited both in the house and on the hospital premises. According to regulations, the hospital has placed signs, signs and logos banning smoking everywhere, including in toilets; At the same time for guard checking for timely detection and prompting. However, there are times, places where people who go to the doctor and take care of patients secretly smoke on the hospital premises.
"The hospital is large, the patients are crowded, the security team is just enough to serve the main activities of the hospital, just hope those who come to the hospital are aware of not smoking so that the hospital can get fresh air" - Dr. Ngo Duc Tuan expressed.
Smoking in public places and places where smoking is prohibited is still rampant. It is not difficult to see smokers puffing out smoke in places where smoking is prohibited. Vice Chairman of P.Long Binh People's Committee Tran Van Thang said that it is very difficult to handle cases of smoking where it is prohibited.
In fact, some people are used to smoking and are used to seeing other people smoking, so few people report to the ward. Or it is reported that when the treatment team arrives, the smoker is no longer there or has finished smoking a cigarette, so it is difficult to make a handling record. "In order to limit smoking in public places and places where smoking is prohibited, the ward only strengthens the propaganda of people about the harmful effects of tobacco as well as the cost of money" - Mr. Thang said. good.
Sharing with us about the difficulties in handling violations of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm in 2012, Acting Head of Health Department of Bien Hoa City Tran Hung said, the handling of cases Smoking in public places is very difficult, because the person's smoking behavior happens suddenly, quickly, in an unstable position. On the other hand, sanctioning but following the correct procedure when the sanctioning team arrives, the violator not only has time to "kill" the cigarette butts, but sometimes disappears. Moreover, the handling unit does not have enough human resources to arrange places to check, monitor and detect violators for handling.
In order to improve the effectiveness as well as strengthen the supervision of the people, promptly receive and process information about violations of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms 2012, the Harm Prevention and Control Fund. Tobacco (Ministry of Health) has built and piloted the application Vn0khoithuoc (app on mobile phones), helping people report tobacco-related violations to the authorities.
This application allows people to take and send images of violations of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms 2012 to the authorities for timely handling measures. However, this solution has not been effective, because not everyone has a smartphone and an internet connection to take and send pictures.
Facing difficulties in dealing with smoking behavior in public places, Mr. Tran Hung said: "There are two solutions, first is to strengthen propaganda to raise awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and its benefits. of the smoke-free environment in offices and households; the second is to increase the selling price of each expensive pack of cigarettes by 2-3 times, this will make smokers consider it, from which they can gradually reduce and proceed to quit smoking because it is too expensive. However, the most important thing is still the awareness of smokers about the health of themselves, their families and the community."
Phuong Lieu
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