Hot recommendations related to tobacco

At the end of the conference "Training to improve communication capacity on tobacco harm prevention" held on the morning of October 17 in Ho Chi Minh City, experts said that it is necessary to ban the circulation of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other new types of tobacco in Vietnam.

Mr. Ho Hong Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Information and Communications, spoke at the training conference.

Reporting at the conference, MSc. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Fund for Tobacco Harm Prevention, Ministry of Health, said that the rate of smoking traditional cigarettes has decreased, but the number of people using electronic cigarettes has increased. In particular, the number of women smoking electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products has increased more than that of cigarettes.

"In just 2 years, the rate of e-cigarette use among students (13-15 years old) increased significantly, from 3.5% in 2022 to 8.0% in 2023. Efforts to reduce the rate of cigarette use in Vietnam over the past 10 years will be at risk of being destroyed by the increase in e-cigarette use" - MSc. Huong emphasized.

According to MSc. Huong, there is no evidence to prove that smoking electronic cigarettes or heated tobacco products is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Both of these new types of cigarettes contain nicotine (a highly addictive substance that affects health).

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that promoting the use of heated tobacco products as having fewer harmful chemicals than traditional cigarettes will mislead users about the harmful effects of these new types of cigarettes. In addition, WHO has called on countries to take measures to "prevent the making of unfounded conclusions about the safety of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products."

Currently, 39 countries in the world have banned the use of e-cigarettes, 3 countries regulate e-cigarettes as pharmaceuticals and 18 countries ban heated tobacco products. In the ASEAN region, there are 5 countries that have completely banned e-cigarettes: Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia.

At the conference, Mr. Ho Hong Hai, Deputy Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Information and Communications, reported the results of monitoring and surveys by the National Assembly Committees. Studies show that in Vietnam, there are many cases of taking advantage of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products to illegally circulate and use drugs.

"In the first quarter of 2024, the police nationwide discovered and handled 111 cases, 152 subjects related to electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, of which 33 cases with 73 subjects were prosecuted for drug crimes, the rest were administratively handled for trading in goods of unknown origin" - Mr. Hai informed.

Electronic cigarettes attract young people with many unique flavors and designs.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital, said that from January 2022 to October 2023, the hospital received more than 120 cases of patients hospitalized after using e-cigarettes. Of these, up to 51.7% of patients showed signs of emotional and mental disorders, including agitation, screaming, hallucinations, paranoia, and uncontrollable behavior.

With statistics and research conducted over the years, MSc. Huong affirmed: "It is impossible to use another addictive product to reduce the harmful effects of cigarettes. This is no different than creating a new generation of addicts. We must resolutely prevent their use before it is too late to protect the younger generation. Starting with issuing regulations to completely ban these products before the use of new cigarettes becomes popular."

In addition, the Ministry of Health is submitting to the Government for consideration and submitting to the National Assembly for promulgation a Resolution banning the production, trading and use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products in Vietnam.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nong-kien-nghi-lien-quan-den-thuoc-la-196241017121558811.htm