Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam calls for action to reduce smoking related diseases

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called on everyone, regardless of gender and age, to raise their responsibility towards society and the environment by reducing smoking.

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam

The Deputy PM made the statement at a meeting on May 31 in Hanoi in response to World No Tobacco Day and National No Tobacco Week, jointly organised by the Ministry of Health, the Vietnamese Women’s Union and the Tobacco Control Fund.

Themed “Women with non-smoking relatives - For a smoke-free environment”, the event seeks to promote the role of women in persuading their smoking relatives to quit smoking in order to reduce the impacts on themselves and others.

According to the World Health organisations, Vietnam has one of the highest rates of smoking among men in the world with the number of smokers estimated at 16 million, with approximately VND22 trillion (US$1 billion) spent on their habit each year.

Smoking-related diseases are the cause of around 40,000 deaths each year, equivalent to more than 100 each day.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)