An online contest on tobacco harm prevention was launched across Vietnam from now till May 31 to celebrate World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and National No Tobacco Week 2020 (May 25-31).

The National No Tobacco Week 2020 is taking place from May 25-31.
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The event, entitled "Vietnamese youth say no to cigarettes and E-cigarettes - No Smoking Challenge", is organised by the Youth Union’s Electronic Portal in collaboration with the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund under the Ministry of Health and Vital Strategies, a Global Public Health Organisation.

The online contest is intended for individuals and groups aged under 35. Young people can participate in the contest by recording short clips of action shows or creative dances, suitable for young people and post them publicly on the TikTok app with full hashtags #WNTD2020 #ThanhnienVietNam, #Noikhongvoithuocla and #NoSmokingChallenge.

Participants can create clips (from 15 to 60 seconds), following suggestions: Protecting young people from manipulating, inducing the use of tobacco products; Protecting the elderly, pregnant women, children from the harmful effects of tobacco; Building smoke-free models; Measures to call union members and young people not to use tobacco products.

The contest aims to respond to the theme "Protection of youth from the effects of advertising and use of tobacco products" launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the aim of increasing the interest of countries in their activities related to the prevention of tobacco harm, emphasising the serious harm of nicotine addiction, especially among adolescents.

Since then, it has urged governments to proactively develop and implement strong and effective policies to protect young people from the dangers of tobacco use, including cigarettes and new tobacco products such as electronic and heated cigarettes.