Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Vietnam Fund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms, (Source: infonet.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s HealthMinistry and the Fund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms on June 26 held ameeting of the tobacco control working group, gathering representatives fromkey tobacco control organisations in Vietnam and its development partners.
The meeting was attended by Head of the BloombergPhilanthropies Public Health Programme Kelly Henning, and experts from theHealthBridge Foundation, World Health Organisation, Vital Strategiesorganisation and Chicago University, among others.
Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the VietnamFund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms, said Vietnam has built a network onthe prevention of tobacco harm in all 63 provinces and cities. The localitieshave built non-smoking areas and the cities of Ha Long, Hue, Nha Trang and HoiAn are developing smoke-free tourism areas.
Khue said about 1,200 secondary and highschools and nearly 130 colleges and universities nationwide have bannedsmoking.
However, he noted that at present, nearlyhalf of Vietnamese men smoke, a high figure he said that needs to be reduced.
At the meeting, experts discussed theenforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms in Vietnam,including increases in tobacco prices and import duties, inspections andpunishment of violations in the implementation of a smoke-free environment andVietnam’s Programme on Tobacco Prevention and Control.
According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi KimTien, tobacco costs Vietnamese smokers 31 trillion VND (1.36 billion USD) peryear.
Treatment for five major diseases - lungcancer, gastrointestinal-respiratory cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease, heart attacks and strokes, caused by smoking, are estimated to cost 24trillion VND (1.05 billion USD).-VNA
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