A national no-tobacco week is being held from May 25 to 31. — Illustrative Photo tuyengiao.vn

HÀ NỘI — A national no-tobacco week is being held from May 25 to 31 in response to World No Tobacco Day 2021 (May 31), to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of smoking.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has called on sectors, ministries, organisations, and localities to work together in organising communications activities to help reduce the number of smokers in the country.

It has worked with ministries, sectors, socio-political organisations, and localities to step up efforts on preventing and controlling smoking. Although its smoking rate fell to 21.7 per cent of adults in 2020 from 22.5 per cent in 2015, Việt Nam remains in the top 15 countries in the world with the highest rates.

The ministry said inter-sectoral co-operation is necessary to outline plans and implement measures on cutting tobacco use, while the Law on the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms must be strictly followed.

Besides tobacco, information on the harms of waterpipe (shisha) smoking, e-cigarette vaping, and heated tobacco must be promoted, it said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 780 million people worldwide want to quit smoking. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of smokers wanting to give up for fear that the habit will increase their exposure to infection.

The WHO recently launched a year-long global campaign for World No Tobacco Day 2021, called 'Commit to Quit'. The campaign aims to help 100 million people worldwide give up smoking through various initiatives and digital solutions. — VNS