Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Vietnam Fund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms, (Source: infonet.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Health
Ministry and the Fund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms on June 26 held a
meeting of the , gathering representatives from
key tobacco control organisations in Vietnam and its development partners.
The meeting was attended by Head of the Bloomberg
Philanthropies Public Health Programme Kelly Henning, and experts from the
HealthBridge Foundation, , Vital Strategies
organisation and Chicago University, among others.
Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Vietnam
, said Vietnam has built a network on
the prevention of tobacco harm in all 63 provinces and cities. The localities
have built non-smoking areas and the cities of Ha Long, Hue, Nha Trang and Hoi
An are developing smoke-free tourism areas.
Khue said about 1,200 secondary and high
schools and nearly 130 colleges and universities nationwide have banned
smoking.
However, he noted that at present, nearly
half of Vietnamese men smoke, a high figure he said that needs to be reduced.
At the meeting, experts discussed the
enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of in Vietnam,
including increases in tobacco prices and import duties, inspections and
punishment of violations in the implementation of a smoke-free environment and
Vietnam’s Programme on Tobacco Prevention and Control.
According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim
Tien, tobacco costs Vietnamese smokers 31 trillion VND (1.36 billion USD) per
year.
Treatment for five major diseases – lung
cancer, gastrointestinal-respiratory cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, heart attacks and strokes, caused by smoking, are estimated to cost 24
trillion VND (1.05 billion USD).-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
