Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(Hanoi, Vietnam and New York, USA) – More than 5,000 youth have signaled their support of a smoke-free Vietnam. Since the country’s first SMS tobacco control campaign launched in mid-May, thousands have added their names to a petition that urges the National Assembly to pass a comprehensive tobacco control law on June 18.
The SMS campaign was developed by the Youth Union of Vietnam with support from World Lung Foundation (WLF), the Vietnam Committee Office of Smoking and Health (VINACOSH), World Health Organization, Atlantic Philanthropies, and other organizations. It is running in conjunction with a graphic TV campaign, “Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive,” which has aired on national and provincial TV channels in May and June, funded by WLF. The campaign is supported by a series of messages emphasizing the harms of smoking, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.
The “Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive” ads, along with the SMS and website, aim to inform millions of cigarette smokers and passive smokers about the serious impact tobacco has on their health, and to motivate them to quit—or ask loved ones to quit—before they become sick
The campaign also seeks public support of national tobacco control legislation, on which the National Assembly discussed during its May meeting and will vote on June 18. The law includes provisions that call for smoke-free public places, raised taxes on tobacco products, and other measures that reduce tobacco use and protect passive smokers from secondhand smoke exposure.
Research has shown that mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means to globally encourage people to stop smoking. It is one of the World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. MPOWER strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
About Tobacco Use in Vietnam
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today. In Vietnam, following the Global adult tobacco survey in Vietnam (people >15 aged), the rate in men is 47.4% while 1.4% in women. There are 15 million adults smoke tobacco. In addition, 73.1% (33,000,000) adults report being exposed to SHS at home while 55.9% (5,000,000) non-smoking workers report secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in indoor workplaces(1). Forty thousand deaths in Vietnam are related to smoking each year. (2)
(1)Global adult tobacco survey (GATS): Vietnam. World Health Organization, 2010. Available from: https://www.who.int/tobacco/surveillance/en_tfi_gats_vietnam_report.pdf.
(2)World Health Organization Tobacco Free Initiative – Vietnam, 2002.