On October 8, 2022, the Ministry of Education and Training held a direct communication session on the prevention and control of tobacco harms, particularly e-cigarettes, for students in Can Tho city (Photo: VNA) The department said in a document sent to Departments of Health inprovinces and cities that the use of electronic nicotine delivery (END)products and heated tobacco products (HTPs) is on the rise among students.
Many students have had to be rushed to the emergency room due tonicotine poisoning and the harmful substances in e-cigarettes and heatedcigarettes.
The department said, besides the well-known harmful effects ofregular cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes also pose potentialrisks and contribute to social evils, such as drug abuse and other addictivebehaviours, which adversely affect the health and lifestyle of adolescents.
Moreover, these products cause immediate and long-term harm tohealth, the economy and society. The department urged more communicationand awareness-raising efforts about the dangers of these products.
To further reinforce communication and prevent the use of alltobacco products, the department suggested that provinces and cities' healthdepartments advise the People's Committees of provinces and cities to issuedirectives, instructing departments, branches, and media agencies to regularlypropagate the harmful effects of ordinary cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and heatedcigarettes.
Localities should promptly enforce regulations to prohibit the useof these products in agencies, offices, and educational and traininginstitutions; enhance inspection activities; and strictly deal with cases ofbuying, selling, and using e-cigarettes, heated cigarettes, and shisha.
Departments of health should collaborate with relevant mediaagencies and units to disseminate information on the harmful effects ofe-cigarettes and heated cigarettes to civil servants, public employees, andemployees at agencies and organisations, as well as people in the area.
The content can be integrated into meetings, seminars,conferences, agencies, units and community events.
Furthermore, health departments should work closely with educationand training departments to provide information and widely disseminate theharmful effects of new tobacco products to pupils, students, officials, andteachers at educational institutions. Healthcare facilities should alsoactively provide information about the harmful effects of new tobacco productsto patients, their family members, and people in the community.
During a scientific conference organised by the Ministry of Healthand the Ministry of Education and Training in 2022 to share research results ontobacco use among students aged 13-15 years old in Vietnam, data revealed thatthe rate of tobacco use among this age group increased from 0.2% in 2014 to 0.8%in 2022.
The use of new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heatedcigarettes is also on the rise among young people.
The rate of e-cigarette smoking among those over 15 years oldincreased from 0.2% in 2015 to 3.6% in 2020, with an especially high rate of7.3% among the 15-24 age group. Among students aged 13-15 years old, the rateof e-cigarette use is 3.5%, with male students at 4.3% and female students at2.8%.
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products contain nicotine, alongwith approximately 15,500 flavourings, many of which are toxic and can havenegative health effects. They also pose a risk of fire and explosion and can bemixed with other substances, such as cannabis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended thate-cigarettes are more harmful than traditional cigarettes and can causepremature health effects or interstitial lung disease, which progresses rapidlyand has a worse prognosis than lung cancer. Furthermore, e-cigarettes do nothave the same effect as regular cigarettes in aiding smoking cessation./.
VNA
