“Say No to Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products to Protect the Young Generation”

On May 27 in Hanoi, the Ministry of Health organized a rally to respond to World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and National No Tobacco Week (May 25-31, 2023) with the theme "We need food, not tobacco".

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said that tobacco use is the cause of more than 8 million deaths worldwide each year. Of these, more than 7 million people die from direct tobacco use and about 1.2 million die from passive smoking. The health and economic losses caused by the use of new tobacco products are just as serious as those caused by conventional cigarettes, especially the health consequences for the younger generation.

"A 2020 assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO) public health expert panel found that 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 spending on smoking, costs for medical examination and treatment of smoking-related diseases, reduced/lost working capacity due to illness and premature death," said Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan.

In Vietnam, the Deputy Minister of Health said that the work of preventing the harmful effects of tobacco has achieved many remarkable results. Compared to 2015, the rate of male smokers in 2020 decreased from 45.3% to 42.3%. In particular, the rate of passive smoking has also decreased significantly in places such as: workplaces, educational institutions, on public transport and indoor areas. The rate of tobacco use among young people aged 15-24 decreased from 26% (in 2015) to 13% (in 2020). Among students aged 13-15, the smoking rate also decreased from 2.5% in 2014 to 1.9% in 2022.

However, Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan also pointed out that, besides initial successes, tobacco harm prevention in our country is still facing difficulties and challenges. 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, however, buying, selling, and advertising are taking place widely, especially on the internet.

According to the Deputy Minister, these products are designed in a variety of styles and flavors that are very attractive to young people, which leads to the rapid increase in the use of electronic cigarettes in our country, especially among students.

Therefore, the leader of the Ministry of Health emphasized that if we do not continue to implement strong measures to prevent the harmful effects of tobacco and promptly stop new tobacco products in Vietnam, the rate of tobacco use will increase again.

"The health and economic losses caused by the use of new tobacco products are just as serious as those caused by conventional tobacco products, especially the health consequences for the younger generation, making it difficult to achieve the goal of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, which is to reduce smoking rates and protect public health," said Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan.

Dr. Angela Pratt, WHO Representative in Vietnam, said that in Vietnam, at least 40,000 people die from tobacco each year. To reduce this number of premature deaths and to achieve the target of reducing smoking rates by 30% by 2030, there is still much work to be done.

According to her, raising taxes and prices on cigarettes is a priority because cigarette prices in Vietnam are currently among the cheapest in the world. This makes it easier for young people to access and start smoking. Moreover, low cigarette prices will make it more difficult for current smokers to quit.

“We also need to prevent and control the use of new tobacco products. Products are still being marketed and advertised in ways that are misleading to vulnerable young people,” said Dr. Angela Pratt.

The media plays a vital role in tobacco control efforts. There is therefore a need to intensify collective efforts to alert people of all ages to the serious harm that tobacco use can cause to individuals and families, and the significant cost burden it places on households and health systems.

"I am very pleased that today we will launch a new communication campaign called "Say no to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products to protect the young generation" by the Tobacco Control Fund, Ministry of Health, with technical support from the global public health organization Vital Strategies and WHO" - Dr. Angela Pratt expressed.

This campaign is part of a series of activities responding to WHO's message calling on countries to promote communication activities to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco and new tobacco products on health, the economy, the environment, food security and nutrition.

Within the framework of the campaign, many communication activities will be deployed to raise awareness among adolescents and parents with children of adolescence about the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Through this, the campaign calls on people not to use tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products to protect the health of themselves, their families and the community.

Media videos with the message "Say No to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products to protect the young generation" will be broadcast nationwide from May 27, 2023 to July 16, 2023 on central and local television channels, cinema systems in major cities, apartments, high-rise buildings and social media channels, helping the message reach a large number of people nationwide.

Sharing more information about this, Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund - said that the rate of e-cigarette smoking in our country in 2020 for both men and women increased 18 times compared to 2015 (from 0.2% to 3.6%). In particular, the trend of using e-cigarettes is highly concentrated in the age group of 15 - 24 years old.

"Therefore, in the Fund's 2023 communication programs, we will promote propaganda about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and promote communication on social networking sites (Tik Tok, Youtube, Facebook) to provide timely information and mobilize the participation of a large number of young people and students," said Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue.

Dr. Tom Carroll, Senior Advisor on Communications and Policy Advocacy of Vital Strategies - an organization with many years of experience supporting communication activities to prevent and combat the harmful effects of tobacco in Vietnam, shared some messages used in the communication campaign "Say No to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products to protect the young generation" including: Using e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products can cause damage to the lungs, heart and brain, especially in young people; Like smoking regular cigarettes, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes also emit toxic chemicals such as nitrosamines and hydrocarbons found in car exhaust and pesticides that cause cancer; Using e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products quickly causes nicotine addiction and is difficult to quit.

It is known that on World No Tobacco Day, May 31 this year, WHO chose the theme "We need food, not tobacco". Through this theme, WHO calls on countries to promote activities to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco on health, economy, environment, food security and nutrition; mention the link between tobacco use, cultivation and poverty; call for quitting smoking to increase spending on food./.

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