Vietnam is among the 15 countries with the most male smokers in the world.

On the morning of May 23, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Information and Communications coordinated with the Ministry of Health to organize a conference to provide information to the press on preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco.

Illustration photo.

World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2023 was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the theme: "We need food, not tobacco" to call on countries to promote activities to raise awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco on health, economy , environment, food security and nutrition; calling on people to quit smoking to increase spending on food.

Sharing about the harmful effects of tobacco use, Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health , said that according to statistics, tobacco use causes 8 million deaths each year in the world, of which about 1 million deaths are due to passive smoking. According to WHO estimates, the global economic loss caused by tobacco each year is 1,400 billion USD.

Tobacco is also the cause of deforestation and increased environmental pollution. Every year, about 5% of the forest area is destroyed to grow tobacco; it is estimated that every year 18 billion trees are needed to make firewood to dry tobacco. The use of tobacco releases into the environment each year from 3,000 to 6,000 tons of formaldehyde, from 12,000 to 47,000 tons of nicotine and from 300 to 600 million kg of toxic substances from cigarette butts.

Over the past years, the work of preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco in our country has achieved many remarkable results. Compared to 2015, the rate of tobacco use among Vietnamese men decreased from 45.3% to 42.3%. According to WHO estimates, Vietnam has avoided 280,000 premature deaths due to diseases related to tobacco use, and the estimated cost savings due to the reduction in the rate of diseases caused by tobacco use in the period 2015-2020 is about 1,277 billion VND/year.

However, Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue said that up to now, Vietnam is still one of the 15 countries with the highest number of adult male smokers in the world. The reduction in the rate of tobacco users in Vietnam has not yet achieved the target set in the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Strategy. The main reason is that Vietnam's tobacco tax is very low, cheap tobacco prices increase the ability of young people and the poor to access and buy tobacco. In addition, the appearance of new and diverse products of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products on the market makes it easier for many people, especially young people, to access tobacco.

Speaking at the conference, Director of HealthyBridge Canada Vietnam Nguyen Thi An emphasized the harmful effects of tobacco on people's health, especially children. For families, having a member using tobacco takes away a significant portion of income, money that could be used to invest in education and health care. In Vietnam, in 2020, people spent 49,000 billion VND on tobacco. The total cost of treatment and costs due to loss of working capacity due to illness and premature death for 5/25 groups of diseases caused by tobacco was 24,000 billion VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thi An recommended that Vietnam should strengthen the enforcement of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, step up inspections, checks, and strictly handle violations, focusing on handling violations in places where smoking is prohibited, advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, and trading in smuggled tobacco products. Vietnam also needs to increase special consumption tax on tobacco to prevent increased purchasing power and limit young people's access to cheap tobacco. Using tax and price policies is a highly effective solution to reduce tobacco consumption recommended by WHO and the World Bank.

The Government needs to issue a policy to ban the circulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and WHO; strengthen communication to raise awareness about the harmful effects of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products; communicate the responsibility of parents, teachers, and adults in protecting children from the harmful effects of tobacco...

According to vtv.vn

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