Vietnam will promote education on tobacco prevention at schools, propose a higher tax rate on cigarettes, raise alarming bell about smoking-related diseases, and impose strict punishments on violations in smoke-free areas, state media cited a health official as saying. Mr. Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy director of the medical service administration under the Ministry of Health, said the initiative was proposed by Vietnam at the 6th Regional Meeting of Smoke-free cities in the Asia-Pacific Region in the central city of Hoi An last week. The meeting, themed “Reshaping tourism through smoke-free environments,” drew the participation of more than 100 deputies and experts from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, China, and Vietnam in discussions on how to build a network of smoke-free cities and non-smoking tourism sites. Vietnam has been listed among the top 15 countries with the highest number of smokers globally, with 45.3% of men smoking. The country records around 40,000 deaths due to smoking-related diseases every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
