Attending the Forum were representatives of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper and more than 250 youth union members of the Natural Resources and Environment sector.
Speaking at the Forum, Comrade Dang Quoc Khanh - Secretary of the Youth Union of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shared: Currently, the rate of smokers is on the rise, especially in developing countries, including Vietnam. There are many different reasons for this situation, but most of them are due to limited understanding of the specific harmful effects of cigarette smoke and incomplete knowledge. That comes from the lack of measures to propagate and educate about tobacco and its harmful effects on human health.
In Vietnam, each year, about 40,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases and 33 million non-smokers are affected by passive smoking. For young people, smoking, especially e-cigarettes, is becoming a trend, but the dangerous effects on health have not received due attention.
Recently, the Youth Union of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has organized many seminars and workshops to help young people understand the toxicity and harmful effects of electronic cigarettes that are widespread in Vietnam.
If you quit smoking, your body will no longer accumulate toxins, eliminating the causes and conditions that cause the diseases mentioned above. Quitting smoking before the age of 50 will help reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 50% after 1 year of quitting, and reduce the risk of lung cancer by 50%.
"Once again, I hope that you will be the ones to help your friends and relatives - those who are still smoking - to be aware of their harmful effects and to reduce and quit smoking as soon as possible, towards a smoke-free community, a civilized society and a bright future" - Comrade Dang Quoc Khanh - Secretary of the Youth Union of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said.
Sharing about the situation of youth smoking in Vietnam, Master Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - representative of the Fund for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, Ministry of Health said: Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are threatening the achievements in reducing smoking among young people and students in the past 10 years. With eye-catching advertisements, diverse designs, and appropriate approaches to attract young people, the rapidly increasing rate of electronic cigarette smoking is a threat to young people's health.
According to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, from 2020 to now, there have been more than 100 cases of emergency treatment here due to poisoning from substances contained in e-cigarettes, for example substances from solutions such as nicotine and especially marijuana, synthetic drugs. Besides, there are many mixed substances that we have not been able to detect even though they are very toxic.
Young people and students are the target of multinational tobacco corporations. They are smokers but also the ones who convey messages in the community, reporters to bring messages about new cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products to friends, colleagues, and the community.
In recent times, the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund has identified the goal of protecting young people and supporting tobacco prevention activities among young people. The Fund has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Central Committee of the Women's Union to promote tobacco harm prevention activities among students and youth union members; established a network of key union officials and provided capacity building training for union officials to be able to organize communication campaigns suitable for young people to spread anti-tobacco messages.
According to Master Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, the most prominent difficulty in preventing new tobacco products is that young people often think that the trend of smoking electronic cigarettes is not harmful to health and is trendy.
Sharing at the Forum, Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Mai - representative of the Youth Union of the University of Natural Resources and Environment said: In fact, it is very easy to see students smoking e-cigarettes inside and outside schools, in public places. Abuse of e-cigarettes has become an alarming problem. The primary cause is subjective awareness when many students do not fully understand the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and gradually become addicted. Sometimes it is because of acquaintances and friends who persuade them. Therefore, raising awareness of oneself and those around can be considered a key solution to prevent the harmful effects of tobacco among young people and students.
At the Forum, Secretary of the Youth Union of the Department of Planning and Land Resources Development Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh told the story of Uncle Ho and his determination to quit smoking. Even though Uncle Ho had a great love for cigarettes, he was determined to quit smoking, overcome this bad habit and be a role model. moral example for Vietnamese people to follow, especially today's young generation.
Ngoc Anh shared that young people are living in a world that is developing too fast, requiring them to adapt and manage changes around them to protect what they have. That is health, that is the conditions that organizations and schools create opportunities for us to study, work, and express ourselves. Quitting smoking is protecting ourselves and our loved ones around us.
Currently, the youth of the Department of Planning and Land Resources Development are building a model of "Smoke-free office" by launching sports and art movements after work to improve the spirit and physical health of cadres, employees and youth, along with "Green office" activities, exchanging trash for gifts, planting many trees in the workplace... These activities have contributed to bringing a civilized lifestyle in the office, towards a clean, smoke-free environment.
At the Forum, young people enthusiastically participated in the game “Learning about preventing the harmful effects of tobacco”. Through this, a lot of useful knowledge about the harmful effects of new generation cigarettes and tobacco in general was widely disseminated.
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