Tobacco ‘kills’ 8 million people globally every year

The above information was given by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, Ministry of Health and experts at the meeting in response to World No Tobacco Day 31/5 and National No Tobacco Week. cigarettes this morning, May 28.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use is the cause of more than 8 million deaths globally each year, said Dr Socorro Escalante, WHO representative in Vietnam. Approximately 7 million deaths are attributable to direct tobacco use, while 1.2 million deaths are among non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke.

Also according to a report by WHO and scientists, there are more than 7,000 toxins in cigarette smoke. Currently, smoking is the main cause of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue further information, WHO said that after the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be a pandemic of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, metabolic disorders, blood pressure, obesity, diabetes… 70 % of hospital patients who have these non-communicable diseases.

“In fact, smoking is the main cause of diseases with the highest mortality rate in the world,” emphasized Mr. Khue.

Besides harmful to health, smoking also harms the economy of each family, is also the cause of large fires and explosions, affecting the social life of people.

Tobacco control activities have been stepped up in recent years. According to a representative of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, the Ministry of Health, in the program’s activities, one of the leading groups of solutions is communication solutions.

Solutions to set the goal of a smoke-free environment at schools, hospitals, offices, means of transport… In which, guiding the implementation of activities according to the provisions of the law – no smoking in places crowded, public, indoors, especially vulnerable subjects, pregnant women, children…

Second, at mass organizations, we must coordinate with organizations in the agency, so that everyone has a common voice, minimizing the influence of passive smoking.

Third, place signs and instructions in non-smoking places. Facilities must pay attention to those who cannot quit, must have places to instruct them to smoke outside of prescribed hours…

These activities are to build a smoke-free environment, so that tobacco does not affect the community or passive tobacco does not affect people.

Experts also show some results in reducing smoking rates. The results of the survey on tobacco use in 2020 in provinces and cities conducted by the University of Public Health in 2020 compared to 2015 are as follows: The percentage of male smokers decreased by 45.3% to 42.3 %.

The rate of passive smoking in some locations also decreased compared to 2015 such as workplaces, down from 42.6% to 30.9%; at home decreased from 59.9% to 56%, at restaurant decreased from 80.7% to 78.1%; At bars, coffee and tea decreased from 89.1% to 86.2%.

But we also face a number of challenges, such as the rate of tobacco use in our country has decreased but is still very high, new tobacco products appear (e-cigarettes, non-heated cigarettes, etc.). , shisha). Smoking rates among Vietnamese youth are increasing rapidly. Tobacco tax in Vietnam is still very low. Low drug taxes make tobacco prices cheap. Cheap drug prices increase the accessibility and purchase of tobacco by young people and the poor.

Health warnings printed on cigarette packages have been implemented for 5 years but have not changed in image and content. The area of ​​visual warnings on cigarette packages is currently only 50%, which is still small compared to countries such as Laos, Brunei and Myanmar with 75%. The ability of Vietnamese people to access tobacco products is still very easy because cigarettes are sold everywhere. It is these reasons that have reduced the effectiveness of the prevention of tobacco harms.

Ngoc Trang