Promoting the construction of smoke-free medical facilities

According to the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, in our country, while the trend of infectious diseases is decreasing, non-communicable diseases are increasing rapidly. Diseases mainly caused by tobacco use such as stroke, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer... are the leading causes of death in men.

Passive smoking has also been identified as a cause of disease in non-smokers who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. These include spouses, children, people living in the same household as smokers, and people who work regularly in environments with cigarette smoke.

Need to spread the movement to build a smoke-free medical environment.

Passive smoking can cause many serious diseases such as lung cancer, respiratory infections, cardiovascular diseases... The risk of coronary artery disease in passive smokers is 25-30% higher than in those who do not inhale smoke. Pregnant women who regularly inhale passive smoke can have miscarriages, slow fetal development or premature birth.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), every year there are about 200,000 deaths worldwide due to passive exposure to cigarette smoke in the workplace.

In addition, smoking also causes heavy economic losses. It is estimated that the amount of money Vietnamese people spend on cigarettes is 49,000 billion VND/year (estimated from total consumption in 2020). In addition to the loss due to cigarette spending, the total cost of treatment and loss due to loss of working capacity due to illness and premature death for 5 groups of diseases (lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer - upper respiratory tract, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, myocardial infarction, stroke) caused by smoking is about 1% of GDP, equivalent to 3 billion USD (67,000 billion VND).

Spending on cigarettes reduces other essential household expenses, especially for low-income households. A household living standards survey shows that poor households in Vietnam spend nearly 5% of their income on cigarettes. In these households, the amount spent on cigarettes is even higher than the amount spent on health care or education. If poor smokers quit, they will have more money to buy food or pay for their children's education.

Therefore, building a smoke-free environment is completely consistent with the health sector's goal of protecting the health of all people. More than any other profession, the health sector needs to take the lead in supporting this movement. Health workers need to set an example for the community in protecting their health by not smoking and complying with the regulations prohibiting smoking in health facilities.

In addition to being in line with the general goals of the health sector, implementing a smoke-free environment in health facilities also brings practical benefits such as: Protecting the health of health workers, helping them work more effectively; protecting the good image of doctors; health workers who do not smoke contribute to education and encourage the protection of public health.

According to the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, building a smoke-free medical environment also creates a clean environment to help patients treat their illnesses more effectively. It reduces economic losses due to the number of medical staff absent due to fatigue or illness caused by tobacco use; and reduces costs for environmental sanitation and fire prevention in medical facilities.

In recent years, the awareness of patients and their relatives not to smoke when coming to the hospital has increased significantly. According to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, which took effect from May 1, 2013, medical facilities are places where smoking is completely prohibited both indoors and on the premises. However, there are still patients, relatives, and even medical staff who smoke in the hospital.

To continue building a smoke-free hospital, it is necessary to spread the movement through practical actions such as: Posting regulations prohibiting smoking in places with many people passing by; having signs prohibiting smoking in rooms, workplaces, and patient rooms; having a plan for tobacco harm prevention activities; increasing propaganda so that patients and their relatives know about the regulations prohibiting smoking. In particular, cadres, doctors, and medical staff must be role models, not smoke, and the hospital must include the content of not smoking in the emulation criteria of medical staff.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/y-te/day-manh-xay-dung-co-so-y-te-khong-khoi-thuoc-la-i781444/