Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(Hanoi, Vietnam) – A ‘Smoke-free Vietnam’ campaign has resulted in nearly 3,000 people registering on vn0khoithuoc.com to pledge their support for the implementation of the national smokefree law, which came into effect on May 1st, 2013. Hundreds of youth attended Youth Union events in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh City to launch the campaign, which featured television spots, SMS texts and social media. A Facebook page, facebook.com/Vn0khoithuoc, rapidly resulted in an engaged community of more than 500 supporters.
Youth supporters and concerned citizens are encouraged to register their support for the law, either by visiting a vn0khoithuoc.com or texting KKT to 6089. It bans smoking in health facilities, schools, kindergartens and child entertainment venues and in all other indoor public places including restaurants, workplaces and public transportation.
The campaign was developed by the Vietnam Standing Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH) in conjunction with the Youth Union of Vietnam, with technical and financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (TFK) and World Lung Foundation (WLF). It is intended to build support for the law and to warn citizens about the harms of tobacco and secondhand smoke.
“The positive response to the campaign and successful Youth Union events has been encouraging, making a major contribution to raising awareness in the community and amongst youth about the national tobacco control law and implementation of smoke-free environments”, said Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of General Department of Health Service Administration, Director of VINACOSH, Ministry of Health. Mr. Tran Anh Tuan- Vice Secretary of Hanoi Youth Union Committee added, “Our youth can be influential in supporting the law and protecting their health and the health of others who would be exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke.”
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation, commented: “In Vietnam, as in many other countries, the majority of citizens do not smoke, but they often don’t express their concerns. As such it is encouraging to see momentum growing during this campaign, especially among youth, to advocate for their rights to smoke-free public places. We urge Vietnam’s government to move forward quickly to implement the law so adults and youth will be protected from the suffering and diseases caused by secondhand smoke.”
About Tobacco Use in Vietnam
According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 47.4 percentof males and 1.4 percent of females (aged 15 and over) smoke cigarettes in Viet Nam. This means that 15 million adults smoke tobacco. In addition, 73.1 percent of adults report being exposed to secondhand smoke at home while 55.9 percent of workers report secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in indoor workplaces. According to The Tobacco Atlas, prevalence among youth is lower; 5.9 percent of male students aged 13-15 and 1.2 percent of female students aged 13-15 identify as current smokers. A significant proportion of youth (over 58 percent) are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home and tobacco costs Viet NamUS $ 78 million in direct costs each year.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for more than six million deaths each year—one in ten preventable deaths worldwide. Research has shown that mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means to 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.
***NOTE TO EDITORS: Screenshots and video copies of the ads are available upon request.