Anti-smoking campaign launched
VGP - The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee and the Ministry of Health on February 22 jointly launched an anti-smoking campaign to raise people’s awareness on the negative effects the habit brings to both smokers and non-smokers.
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As part of the campaign, a photo, video and poster contest themed “Life without Tobacco Smoke” opened across social networks encouraging youngsters to creatively promote the message that smoking is bad for health and the environment.
According to Gabit Ismailov from the World Health Organization (WHO), Viet Nam has conducted a lot of effective activities against smoking.
However, the country should exert more efforts to build a smoke free environment, especially around youngsters.
According to the WHO, smoking is among the top causes of death in the world, killing 6 million people every year.
Research shows that raising public awareness is among most effective measures to reduce smoking. It is part of WHO’s strategy to reduce the consumption of cigarettes and cigarette products.
According to 2010 statistics, 47% of Vietnamese men and 1.4% of women above the age of 15 are smokers, equivalent to 15 million people.
In additional, 73% of adults in Viet Nam are exposed to tobacco smoke in their home, while 55% of working people are passively affected by the smoke in their workplace.
Viet Nam is one of 15 countries with the highest rate of cigarette smoking in the world, according to the Viet Nam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health.
Tobacco use is the cause of 40,000 deaths in the country each year./.
By Khanh Phuong
