National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control to 2030

Prof. Dr. Tran Van Thuan - Deputy Minister of Health delivered the opening speech

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Tran Van Thuan - Deputy Minister of Health said that according to the World Health Organization, tobacco use is the cause of more than 8 million deaths worldwide each year, and is one of the factors that increase the risk of respiratory infections and increase the severity of respiratory diseases and especially the leading cause of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, estimated to cause 60,000 cancer cases in Vietnam each year.

Furthermore, smokers are at higher risk of serious health complications from COVID-19 than non-smokers. In addition to health risks, tobacco use also causes economic losses to individuals, families and society, including expenditures on smoking, costs for medical examination and treatment of smoking-related diseases, reduced productivity due to illness and premature death. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Vietnam is still among the countries with the highest number of smokers in the world.

In recent years, products called electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco, and shisha have appeared. These products are currently not allowed to be imported, traded, or circulated in the domestic market, and are on the rise among students.

In particular, the work of inspection, examination and handling of violations of the law on tobacco control is not yet carried out regularly; Tobacco cessation support services have been deployed but have not yet met the requirements of tobacco control work; Inter-sectoral coordination in tobacco control is still limited and has not received attention at all levels and sectors; The fact that cigarettes are sold everywhere, the price of cigarettes is cheap, and the tax on cigarettes is low is also the reason why access to tobacco products is easier, reducing the effectiveness of tobacco cessation efforts.

Faced with the dangers of tobacco, on May 24, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision No. 568/QD-TTg promulgating the National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control to 2030 with objectives appropriate to each implementation stage and developing strong and synchronous solutions to effectively implement tobacco prevention and control work. Thereby, strongly affirming the commitment of the Vietnamese Government to strengthening tobacco control work as well as orienting tasks and plans for this work in the coming time.

MSc. Dr. Phan Thi Hai - Deputy Director of the PCTHTL Fund reported on the results of PCTHTL activities in the period of 2021 - 2022

Reporting on the results of tobacco control activities in the period of 2021 - 2022 in Vietnam, MSc. Dr. Phan Thi Hai - Deputy Director of the Tobacco Control Fund said that in 2021 - 2022, the Fund implemented Article 29 of the Tobacco Control Law according to 9 key tasks in supporting tobacco control such as communicating about the harmful effects of tobacco and tobacco control through short film contests to promote tobacco control for young people, coordinating with press agencies, ministries, and the Central Youth Union to launch a tobacco control movement.

Deploying and replicating many "smoke-free" models in agencies and workplaces; Organizing campaigns and initiatives on community-based tobacco cessation; Organizing many smoking cessation programs such as free tobacco cessation counseling hotlines, software for managing and monitoring tobacco users; Deploying and replicating community-based tobacco cessation models through establishing and maintaining tobacco cessation counseling activities for medical staff at grassroots and local levels to help people in need of tobacco cessation, etc.; Improving the capacity and network of collaborators working on tobacco cessation; Researching evidence for tobacco cessation work; Integrating tobacco cessation into appropriate educational programs at all levels; Developing solutions for changing industries and occupations for tobacco growers.

Through the activities implemented by the Fund in 2022, the smoking rate among students aged 13-15 for males decreased from 6.3% to 4%; The rate of exposure to tobacco smoke (passive smoking) in public places has been significantly reduced, such as in the workplace, from 42.6% to 30%; The rate of people receiving advice on smoking cessation has increased from 40.5% to 72.2%, etc. This shows that the efforts of the Tobacco Control Fund have achieved certain effectiveness in tobacco control work for the community.

Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue - Vice Chairman of the National Medical Council - Director of the Tobacco Control Fund presents the National Strategy on Tobacco Control to 2030

Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue - Vice Chairman of the National Medical Council - Director of the Tobacco Control Fund stated the goals of the National Strategy on Tobacco Control by 2030. Accordingly, it is necessary to reduce the rate of tobacco use and the rate of passive exposure to tobacco smoke to reduce diseases and deaths caused by the use of tobacco products.

Associate Professor, Dr. Ngoc Khue also presented solutions to implement in the Strategy with the Solution Group on perfecting the policy and legal mechanisms on tobacco control such as: It is necessary to develop a roadmap to increase taxes on tobacco products to ensure that by 2030, the tax rate is proportional to the retail price according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization; Proposing to issue regulations on preventing electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, shisha and other new tobacco products in the community; Strengthening the leadership of Party committees, authorities and inter-sectoral coordination in the work of preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco.

At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen inspection, examination, handling of violations and innovation in information, education and communication activities; Promote scientific research, improve the monitoring system and consolidate, enhance capacity, network, coordinate international cooperation, proactively and actively integrate and promote cooperation with the World Health Organization and international and domestic organizations to research, evaluate and develop policies in the work of PCTHTL.

Thereby, to implement the Strategy, the Prime Minister has assigned specific tasks to ministries, branches, People's Committees of provinces and cities, and relevant agencies, in which the Ministry of Health is assigned to be the focal point for coordinating with ministries, branches, organizations, and organizations to implement the Strategy; Ministries, branches, and organizations develop plans to implement the Strategy according to their assigned functions and tasks; People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities need to develop plans to implement the Strategy and proactively organize the implementation of the Strategy within their management authority, and mass media agencies proactively and actively participate in implementing the Strategy according to their assigned tasks.

Conference to disseminate the National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control to 2030

The conference received much attention, exchange and discussion from representatives of agencies and establishments participating in contributing ideas to develop many plans and solutions to implement the National Strategy on preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco.

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