A website promoting non-smoking campaign was launched on Thursday at www.clickkhongthuocla.vn.
According to Ha Anh Tuan, ambassador of the Vietnam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH), the website is expected to inform young people, especially students, of the harms of smoking.
Luong Ngoc Khue, the Health Ministry’s Therapy Department chief, said Vietnam had one of the highest smoking rates in the world, with 56.1 percent of men and 1.8 percent of women being active smokers.
The rate tends to become higher among younger age groups, he added.
Every year, tobacco users in Vietnam spend more than VND820 billion (US$44 million) on smoking, which is equivalent to 2.4 million tons of rice. The amount of money is also enough to feed 15.6 million people for a year, Khue said.
Vietnam has to spend VND1.1 trillion ($59 million) each year to treat smoking-related diseases, according to Khue.
According VINACOSH statistics, at least 100 people in Vietnam die of tobacco-related diseases every day, or 40,000 a year, higher than the total fatalities from traffic accidents and HIV/AIDS combined.
The Vietnamese government ratified the UN framework convention on tobacco control in 2004.
A government ban on smoking in indoor public areas from this year has not proved very effective yet. Violators will be fined up to VND100,000 but it is not clear which agency will enforce the ban.
A bill on tobacco harm prevention is being compiled for submission to the National Assembly next year.
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