Economic losses due to smoking are five times higher than the tax collected from cigarettes.
Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health, said: Vietnam is facing an increase in new tobacco users, mainly e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, especially among young people.
In 2012, Vietnam issued the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms. After more than 10 years of implementing tobacco control measures, the rate of active smoking among adults in Vietnam has decreased but quite slowly, with the overall rate for both sexes being 20.8%; the current smoking rate among adult men is 41.1% (2021), among the countries with the highest smoking rates in the world.
In 2019, about 2.6% of Vietnamese students aged 13-17 used e-cigarettes, but in 2023, the survey results in 11 provinces and cities increased to 8.1%... This leads to a rapidly increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, including major diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease... accounting for 81% of causes of death and 73% of the total burden of disease.
Active and passive smoking are the second leading risk factors for death and disease. It is estimated that by 2022, the economic losses to society due to active and passive smoking, including medical treatment costs, lost productivity due to illness and premature death due to smoking, will account for 1.14% of GDP (equivalent to VND 108.7 trillion). This cost is 5 times higher than the revenue from tobacco taxes.
Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan said that in recent years, in addition to traditional cigarettes, new tobacco products have appeared on the Vietnamese market, including electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and hybrid tobacco products between these two products.
Authorities have warned about the misuse of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products for illegal drug use and circulation. Hospitals have recorded hospitalizations related to e-cigarettes, including poisoning, psychosis and drug poisoning.
Dr. Ha Anh Duc, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, said that according to preliminary estimates by the Vietnam Health Economics Association in 2022, the total cost related to medical examination and treatment, illness and premature death due to diseases related to tobacco use is 108,000 billion VND/year.
The harmful effects of new cigarettes on society are worrying.
At the workshop, the Ministry of Health announced the study “Synthesis and analysis of international and domestic studies and reports on the harmful effects of new cigarettes, proposing measures to prevent new cigarettes”. This study shows the worrying harmful effects of new cigarettes on society, especially the attractive design of electronic cigarette (ELC) and heated tobacco products (HTC), along with attractive advertising methods, leading to a new generation of nicotine users, especially adolescents and women.
New generation e-cigarettes often use high-concentration nicotine salts, which are easily absorbed, reduce throat irritation and allow high levels of nicotine to be delivered in small sized products. Many products now allow up to 3,000, 5,000 or 8,000 puffs. Nicotine salts are a major factor in the high rates of e-cigarette use among young people, and in some countries even higher than among adults. There is evidence that e-cigarettes with nicotine are addictive to non-smokers and that young e-cigarette users are three times more likely to start smoking.
Electronic cigarettes can also increase the risk of drug use because users can mix their own solutions, mixing illegal substances such as synthetic marijuana, ketamine, and heroin into cigarettes, especially among young people.
