Smoking increases risk of COVID-19 community transmission

Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Health Ministry’s Department
for Medical Examination and Treatment, made the warnings at a press conference
on National No Tobacco Week, from May 25 to 31, and World No Tobacco Day (May
31) in Hanoi on May 21.

According to the (WHO),
smokers have a higher risk of getting coronavirus because they are constantly
putting their hands to their lips, said Khue, who is also Director of the ministry’s
Tobacco Control Fund.

The use of smoking devices such as water pipes is also
among the causes behind the increase of community infections, he
added.

The WHO designates May 31 as the World No
Tobacco Day (WNTD). The theme of WNTD 2020 is “Protecting youth from industry
manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use”.

For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately
employed strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics to attract youth to
tobacco and nicotine products.

Internal industry documents reveal in-depth research and calculated approaches
designed to attract a new generation of tobacco users, from product design to
marketing campaigns aimed at replacing millions of people who die each year
from tobacco-attributable diseases with new consumers – youth.

In response to the tobacco and related industries’
systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to attract a new generation of
tobacco users, World No Tobacco Day 2020 will provide a counter-marketing
campaign and empower young people to engage in the fight against Big Tobacco.

The World No Tobacco Day 2020 global campaign will
serve to debunk myths and expose manipulation tactics employed by the tobacco
and related industries, particularly marketing tactics targeted at youth,
including through the introduction of new and novel products, flavours and
other attractive features; equip young people with knowledge about the tobacco
and related industries’ intentions and tactics to hook current and future
generations on tobacco and nicotine products; and empower influencers (in pop
culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom) to protect and
defend youth and catalyze change by engaging them in the fight against Big
Tobacco, according to WHO./.