A 2022 survey on tobacco use among students aged 13-15 shows an increase in electronic cigarette use to 3.5 per cent as compared with 2.6 per cent in 2019. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Fund under the Ministry of Health co-organised a conference in Hanoi on November 23 to promote the communications work in the fight against tobacco.

The conference provided updates for the press on tobacco control, especially new-generation products, said Ho Hong Ha, deputy head of the MIC’s Department of Legal Affairs.

Statistics show that more than 1 billion people smoke every day worldwide, including 847 million men and 153 million women.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing over 8 million people a year around the world. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.3 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. In Vietnam, 40,000 people die each year from tobacco-related diseases.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, from the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Fund, cited a 2022 survey on tobacco use among students aged 13-15 showing an increase in electronic cigarette use to 3.5 per cent as compared with 2.6 per cent in 2019.

Given this, she suggested not allowing the pilot circulation of heated cigarettes, and not letting e-cigarettes enter the Vietnamese market under the label of heated cigarettes.

Participants looked into misconceptions, facts and international experience in controlling new tobacco products and challenges to the work, as well as WHO recommendations in this regard.