Smokers are getting younger

Experts say the alarming reality today is the resurgence of younger smokers, especially new generation smokers such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

On May 28, Mr. Ngo Van Cuong, Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Youth Union, said the above at the launching ceremony of Vietnamese Youth Say No to Tobacco and E-cigarettes , in response to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, adding that the rate of traditional smoking among adolescents is decreasing while the rate of e-cigarette use is increasing rapidly.

"The rate of e-cigarette smoking in 2020 for both men and women increased 18 times compared to 2015, with a high concentration in the 15-24 age group, which is an alarming situation," said Mr. Cuong. Research shows that 7.3% of e-cigarette smokers are in the 15-24 age group, while the 25-44 age group is 3.2%, and the 45-64 age group is 1.4%.

Meanwhile, in the five years since 2015, the rate of male smokers (in general) has decreased from 45% to 42%. Dr. Nguyen Trong Khoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health, said that "the smoking rate among adults is decreasing slowly, the rate of exposure to secondhand smoke remains high".

Vietnam is still among the 15 countries with the highest number of smokers in the world. The goal is to reduce the rate of male smokers to 39%.

More than 500 young people jogged in response to World No Tobacco Day, May 31. Photo: Hoai Linh

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking causes many chronic and incurable diseases. Cigarette smoke contains about 7,000 chemicals, including 69 carcinogens and is the cause of 25 different groups of diseases, such as 11 types of cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, affecting the reproductive health of both men and women. It is estimated that for every two smokers, one will die early, of which half of the deaths occur in middle age.

Like regular cigarettes, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes also emit toxic chemicals such as nitrosamines and hydrocarbons - substances found in car exhaust and pesticides, which can cause cancer and other emerging diseases. Therefore, experts warn that new generation cigarettes are just as toxic as traditional cigarettes.

WHO estimates that every year, more than 8 million people worldwide die from smoking, and about 1.2 million people get sick and die from breathing in smoke from others - also known as passive smoking. In Vietnam, about 40,000 people die from smoking every year, of which 6,000 die from breathing in secondhand smoke, including women and children.

According to a 2020 study by the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund (Ministry of Health), the rate of passive smoking in restaurants and hotels is relatively high. Nearly 80% of people inhale cigarette smoke in restaurants, 65% in hotels. Vietnam aims to reduce the rate of passive exposure to cigarette smoke in the workplace to below 25% by 2030; in restaurants to below 65%; in bars and cafes to below 70%, and in hotels to below 50%.

Dr. Angela Pratt, WHO Representative in Vietnam, said that to achieve this goal, priority should be given to increasing taxes and prices, as tobacco prices in our country are currently the cheapest in the world. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent and control the use of new tobacco products.

This year's World No Tobacco Day, May 31, is themed "We need food, not tobacco", to promote public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco on health, the economy, the environment, food security and nutrition; and to call for people to quit smoking to increase spending on food.

Le Nga

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