Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(Hanoi, Viet Nam) –– Today, the Ministry of Health(MoH) and the Youth Union of Vietnam, with support from World Lung Foundation (WLF), launched two new campaigns to help reduce tobacco use in Vietnam. A national mass media campaign, about the serious harms caused by smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke, features the new graphic warnings on cigarette packs and promotes compliance with new national smoke-free regulations. A national competition for the best graphics, photos, and videos to support smoke-free public places also began today on social media.
The campaign, which will appear on TV nationally, was developed by the Vietnam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH), with technical and financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Lung Foundation (WLF). The campaign features two powerful TV commercials, entitled “Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive” and “Cigarettes Are Eating Your Baby Alive,” which graphically illustrate the serious health effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke on adults, babies, and children.
The ads have been adapted to include images from the new graphic pack warnings that are mandatory on all cigarette packs for sale from February 2014.The warnings cover 50% of the front and back of soft and hard cigarette packs and show graphic images that illustrate the harms of tobacco use, such as lung cancer, throat cancer and heart disease. The ads also advise of the fines for smoking in public places defined in the new Decree on Sanctions 1976/2013/NĐ-CP on administrative violations about health, which have been in effect since December 31, 2013.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, responsible for more than five million deaths each year – one in ten adults worldwide. Approximately 15 percent of adults in The Gambia use tobacco. Mass media campaigns are part of the WHO’s package of MPOWER strategies to reduce tobacco consumption and are detailed in Article 12 of the international tobacco control treaty known as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). These tobacco control strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner. Additional support comes from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Vietnam’s Best Smoke-free Images
Submissions for the smoke-free media competitions can be made on facebook.com/Vn0khoithuoc, from today until April 15, 2014. The overall contest winner will receive an Apple iPad®, and other prizes will be awarded to those receiving second and third place, as well as the submission that receives the most number of ‘Likes’ on the Facebook page. All contest entrants will receive a certificate of participation, signed by the MoH, Youth Union, and WLF, while first, second, and third place winners will be acknowledged in person with a certificate of achievement by MoH and Youth Union on World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), May 31st.
Voting will be handled by a panel of judges, including representatives from MoH, the Youth Union, WLF, and the advertising industry. Any visual media can be submitted and there is no limit to the number of entries per person or group. All entries should show the benefits of a smoke-free Vietnam, demonstrate ways of supporting compliance with the new smoke-free regulations or exhibit public support for this smoke-free law.
Vietnam’s Life-Saving Tobacco Control Law
The smoke-free law bans smoking in health facilities, schools, kindergartens, child entertainment venues, and in all other indoor public places, including restaurants, hospitals, workplaces, and public transportation. Hundreds of youth attended Youth Union events in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh City last year to promote awareness of the smoke-free law, while thousands more registered their support to implement the smoke-free law through a petition online and via SMS. These efforts resulted in anengaged online community of more than 500 supporterson the Vn0khoithuoc Facebook page.
“The “For a smoke-free life” competition launched by the Central Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health with support from World Lung Foundation, is like a big “playground” for all youth to demonstrate their creativity,” said Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of General Department of Health Service Administration, Director of VINACOSH, Ministry of Health. “It is also an opportunity for youth to more fully recognize their role in contributing to a smoke-free environment, which would help create a better life for their families, communities and themselves.”
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation, commented,“2014 may be the year when Vietnam takes huge steps forward in its battle against the deadly harms of tobacco. With the new smoke-free law and new graphic warnings on cigarette packs both in effect, millions of smokers will be more aware of how tobacco damages their health and many millions more non-smokers will be protected from the toxins in second-hand smoke. We thank our partners at VINACOSH and the Youth Union for their commitments to better enforce tobacco control policies and campaigns such as this contest, which keep people engaged in the fight against tobacco related diseases.”
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 second-hand smoke at home while 55.9 percent of workers report second-hand 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 second-hand 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.