Exposing the fake attraction

In response to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2025, the World Health Organization chose the theme "Exposing the false appeal" with the aim of exposing the tactics of tobacco corporations around the world in false advertising, causing misunderstanding that tobacco is harmless to expand the consumer market, especially among young people. The World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries to join hands in implementing the Communication Campaign in response to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2025 and National No Tobacco Week from May 25 to 31, 2025.

Training on tobacco harm prevention for village health workers and collaborators in Duc Trong district

The World Health Organization emphasized: World No Tobacco Day 2025 is an opportunity to expose the ways that tobacco corporations around the world use to promote and market addictive products as well as to point out false advertising tactics that deceive people, making tobacco products more attractive, especially to children and adolescents.

According to WHO, tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has faced. Every year, about 8 million people die from tobacco-related diseases, of which 1.3 million are from passive smoking. In Vietnam, with more than 15 million smokers, tobacco use is currently causing a burden of disease and premature death with an estimated number of more than 100,000 deaths per year. A study by the Vietnam Health Economics Association in 2022 showed that the medical costs for treatment and loss of labor due to diseases and premature deaths related to tobacco use in Vietnam are estimated at 108 trillion VND annually. This figure is 5 times larger than the contribution of tax revenue from tobacco products to the national budget.

With the efforts of the Ministry of Health, ministries, branches, provinces and cities and the support of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, over the past 10 years, the work of preventing and combating tobacco harm in Vietnam has achieved many results. The rate of cigarette use among adult men in Vietnam has decreased (an average decrease of 0.5% per year). The rate of cigarette smoking among adolescents aged 13-15 has decreased from 2.5% in 2014 to 1.9% in 2022. However, according to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam is still one of the 15 countries with the highest rate of adult men smoking in the world.

Currently, the work of preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco is facing many difficulties, affecting the results achieved in the past time, and at the same time affecting the efforts in achieving the goal of reducing the smoking rate according to the National Strategy on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm by 2030. Some difficulties include: The emergence of new tobacco products (mainly electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products). Although manufacturers of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products still claim that these products are less harmful and are an alternative to harmful tobacco products for addicts who cannot quit. However, reality shows that these products target a large number of people who have never smoked (including women and children) through flavors, product designs, and constantly changing advertising methods that mislead people that new cigarettes are not harmful to attract tobacco users, especially teenagers.

Cigarette prices in Vietnam are among the lowest in the world: The main reason for low cigarette prices is that Vietnam's cigarette tax is very low. According to the WHO report, Vietnam's cigarette prices are ranked 15th, or near the lowest, among 19 countries in the Western Pacific region, according to the Ministry of Health. Cheap cigarette prices make it easy for low-income people and new smokers, including children, to access, leading to early addiction and increased risk of illness and death.

Reducing the rate of tobacco use in the community is an important goal in reducing health risk factors, which is the guiding viewpoint in the National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control to 2030, issued by the Prime Minister on May 24, 2023. On November 30, 2024, the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 173/2024/QH15, which includes the content of "prohibiting the production, trading, import, storage, transportation and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products from January 1, 2025".

National No Tobacco Week from May 25 to 31, 2025, with the theme "Exposing the false appeal", propaganda messages will revolve around the harmful effects of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and increasing tobacco taxes: Closely monitor and supervise the advertising activities of the tobacco industry; strictly control and prevent the intervention of the tobacco industry in the development of policies to prevent and combat the harmful effects of tobacco. Do not cooperate with or receive sponsorship from tobacco manufacturing and trading companies in any form.

Implementing effective policies to prevent and combat tobacco harms includes: Increasing tobacco taxes to a level large enough to keep up with the increase in per capita income and aiming for a tax rate of 75% of retail prices to contribute to the goal of reducing tobacco use.

Implement a smoke-free environment. Enforce a comprehensive ban on tobacco and nicotine advertising on digital platforms, social media and entertainment media. Closely monitor advertising activities at retail outlets, on social platforms or directly in schools. Increase the area of ​​health warnings printed on tobacco product packaging. Integrate and strengthen smoking cessation programs into national health programs and other programs. Strictly enforce regulations prohibiting the production, trading, import, harboring, transporting and using e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, etc.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/xa-hoi/202505/vach-tran-su-hap-dan-gia-tao-d8376c7/