Speaking at a conference to review the 10 years of FCTC implementation in Vietnam on May 28, WHO representative Jeffery Kobza appreciated the country's strong commitment and remarkable achievements in tobacco control over the past ten years.
Kobza estimated that implementing the tobacco control law fully and doubling the tax on tobacco would help save 16,000 people from premature deaths each year in Vietnam.
Kobza noted that Vietnam has been facing increasing health and economic burdens caused by tobacco use that claims more than 40,000 lives a year in the country.
He suggested that Vietnam should also raise tobacco taxes to reduce the country's smoking rate.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen said that Vietnam faced difficulties in tobacco control because of its cheap price and a high smoking rate among adult males.
Xuyen noted that tobacco control requires more efforts and collaboration from ministries, sectors, provinces, and cities across the country.
Smoking rates among adult males were reduced to 47.7 percent in 2010 compared to 56.1 percent in 2001. The smoking rate among juveniles aged 13-15 years was also reduced from 3.3 percent in 2007 to 2.5 percent in 2014.
Apart from increasing public awareness of the risks of tobacco use, curbs on smoking at workplaces, schools, and public areas have also been imposed. Around 95 percent of adults believe that smoking can cause diseases.
In 2012, a tobacco control law was adopted, while a tobacco harm control and national prevention strategy to 2020 was adopted in 2013. According to the WHO, tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.
In Vietnam, tobacco claims more than 40,000 lives and healthcare costs and productivity loss due to tobacco use are estimated at more than US$ one billion per year./.
