HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has seen a remarkable reduction in the exposure rate to secondhand smoke (SHS) over the past decade, an official has said.

The news was revealed on Wednesay to participants at a conference on conducting tobacco harm-reduction activities in 2016.

“People’ s and community awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco and the need to obey the law and regulations on tobacco harm prevention has improved drastically. This is an important milestone for ensuring the sustainability of the tobacco harm prevention initiative in the coming years,” deputy minister of Health Phạm Lê Tuấn said.

A survey conducted by WHO, the US CDC, the General Statistics Office and the Hà Nội Medical University in 2015 showed that the SHS rate at home had dropped to 59.9 per cent from 73.1 per cent in 2010.

In the workplace, the SHS rate dropped to 42.6 per cent compared with 55.9 per cent, while the rate declined to 19.4 per cent from 34.4 per cent on public transport.

Another survey conducted in 2014 added that the smoking rate among the youth and juveniles had dropped to 2.5 per cent compared with 3.3 per cent in 2007. Some 90 per cent of smoking students expressed the intention to give up smoking.

Tuấn called on ministries, provinces and cities to strengthen inspections and communication on tobacco harm prevention and control in recognition of World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and National No Tobacco Week.

The health ministry reported that provincial committees for tobacco harm reduction and control have been established in 62 of  63 provinces and cities nationwide. Non-smoking communities have been established in many provinces and cities, especially at sports and cultural events in the northern Bắc Ninh; central Thừa Thiên Huế, Đà Nẵng and Nha Trang; and southern coastal Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu provinces. — VNS