Cigarette smoke contains about 7,000 chemicals, of which 69 are carcinogenic and cause 25 different groups of diseases, including 11 types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases; affects the reproductive health of both men and women. It is estimated that 1 in 2 smokers will die early, of which 1/2 of the deaths occur in middle age.
In Vietnam, it is estimated that tobacco causes hundreds of thousands of chronic diseases and kills more than 40,000 people each year. The economic loss caused by the five main groups of tobacco-related diseases (lung cancer, upper respiratory tract cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke) is estimated to have caused losses of up to 1% of our country's GDP.
 |
| Smoking affects health, economy, environment, so each of us should say no to cigarettes. |
Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Director of the Department of Health , said: “In recent years, in addition to cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco products (pipe tobacco) that are being managed under the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, new products have appeared on the market, the most popular of which are electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Currently, the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms does not regulate electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, so these products are not yet allowed to be legally imported, traded, and circulated in Vietnam.”
Electronic cigarettes are devices that use batteries to heat an electronic solution to create an aerosol/smoke for the user to inhale, containing flavoring agents, dissolved in Propylene Glycol or/and Glycerin; the main ingredients of the electronic solution, besides Nicotine, are Propylene Glycol and flavoring agents. Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are products that use electronic devices to heat the cigarette to a temperature high enough to create an inhalable aerosol, containing Nicotine - a highly addictive substance and other chemicals, non-tobacco additives and often with many flavors.
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are new products that have only appeared in the last 10 years, and scientific evidence on the toxicity and long-term health effects of these products is still being studied. However, many initial studies have shown the health consequences of using and passive exposure to the “aerosols”/smoke of these products.
“Recently, cases of poisoning due to the use of electronic cigarettes have been recorded in many provinces and cities. Notably, most of the cases occurred among school-age children, including females. New tobacco products have a high potential risk and cause social evils, especially the use of drugs and addictive substances at the same time as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, affecting health, security and social order,” Mr. Nguyen Van Dung added.
 |
| Nowadays, smoking among teenagers and students is increasing. |
To continue to strengthen the work of preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco and responding to World No Tobacco Day 2023, the Ca Mau health sector organizes activities in response to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, National No Tobacco Week (from May 25-31) such as: strengthening propaganda on the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm; the theme of World No Tobacco Day; the harmful effects of regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, shisha. Coordinate with departments, branches, agencies, and units to increase the dissemination of information on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products to civil servants, public employees, employees at agencies, units, and people in the area. Promptly issue regulations to prevent the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products at educational and training institutions, agencies, and units; hang no-smoking signs at locations with smoking ban regulations; Hang banners and slogans; organize rallies, conferences, parades and other appropriate forms of communication.
“No tobacco product is safe for health. Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products containing nicotine are still addictive products. All tobacco products are harmful to health. Propagating that heated tobacco products contain fewer toxic chemicals than traditional cigarettes will mislead users about the harmful effects of heated tobacco products. Therefore, it is necessary to fully implement measures to prevent and combat the harmful effects of tobacco products,” Mr. Nguyen Van Dung affirmed./.
Quynh Anh
Source link
Comment (0)