Director of the Medical Services Administration and director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund Lương Ngọc Khuê speaks at the launching ceremony of a communication campaign on tobacco harm prevention on Saturday in Hà Nội. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — The Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, in coordination with the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund and the global health organisation Vital Strategies, launched a communication campaign on tobacco harm prevention on Saturday in Hà Nội.

The campaign, entitled "Vietnamese youth say no to cigarettes and e-cigarettes", aims to raise awareness among youth union members and other young people about the harmful effects of tobacco, promoting the role of union members and youth in tobacco harm prevention, building a healthy lifestyle and a smoke-free environment among Vietnamese youth.

The event also aims to raise the young generation’s awareness about the harmful effects of new tobacco products such as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDs) and heated tobacco products (HTPs), thereby calling on young people to fulfil their commitments to not use tobacco and e-cigarettes.

At the ceremony, the representative of the Central Committee of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union said that the campaign is very important and urgent in the context of tobacco corporations promoting the consumption of tobacco products, especially new tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes and heated cigarettes, among young people.

Director of the Medical Services Administration and director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund Lương Ngọc Khuê said that cigarettes in general and e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes in particular contain addictive nicotine, which can harm the respiratory system and cardiovascular system of smokers and those around.

“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), e-cigarettes are not a safe and effective nicotine replacement therapy, but on the contrary, evidence shows that e-cigarette and heated cigarette users may have a risk of using traditional cigarettes, as many people may use both e-cigarettes and cigarettes at the same time,” said Khuê.

Nearly 1,000 students of the Academy of Journalism and Communication have pledged to say no to cigarettes and e-cigarettes by joining an online signing campaign.— VNS Photo Thanh Hải

The Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund said that around the world, the rate of e-cigarette use is increasing among young people. In the US, the rate increased to 27 per cent in 2019 from 11.7 per cent in 2017 and two-thirds of e-smokers are teenagers. A study in 13 Eastern European countries showed that 2.6 per cent of non-smoker adolescents have tried ENDS at least three times. In Việt Nam, about 2.6 per cent of young people, aged 13-17, had used e-cigarettes in 2019.

At the event, nearly 1,000 students of the Academy of Journalism and Communication pledged to say no to cigarettes and e-cigarettes by joining an online signing campaign.

The Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union will continue to maintain and promote the campaign’s communication on websites of the Central Youth Union and provinces across the country and on the Facebook fan page "Smoke Free Vietnam - vn0khoithuoc".

E-cigarettes will continue to cause a heavy burden of disease and disease costs in Việt Nam. According to WHO, around the world tobacco use causes 8 million deaths each year (7 million from direct smoking and 1.2 million from passive smoking). The global cost of smoking is $1 trillion. In Việt Nam, tobacco causes 40,000 premature deaths each year. Spending on smoking accounts for over VNĐ31 trillion per year among Vietnamese households. The cost of a number of common tobacco-related diseases has reached over VNĐ21 trillion per year, according to the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund. — VNS