On May 19, the Ministry of Health launched the second "No Tobacco Smoke Medical Facility" contest, organized by Health and Life Newspaper in coordination with the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Fund.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Distinguished Teacher, Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan - Deputy Minister of Health emphasized that besides traditional cigarettes, new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco are creeping into life, especially among young people, with attractive forms, diverse flavors and messages that easily cause misunderstandings.
This is not a harmless trend, but a new risk that leads teenagers to nicotine dependence and long-term health damage.
The National Assembly has agreed to ban the production, trading, import, storage, transportation, and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco from 2025. Therefore, medical facilities must take the lead in identifying, communicating, monitoring and preventing these products," Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan said.
According to the Deputy Minister, a smoke-free medical facility is not simply a place with no-smoking signs. It must be a place where the law is strictly enforced; a place where the head clearly shows responsibility; a place where each medical staff is a role model; a place where patients are consulted and supported to quit smoking; a place where all acts of smoking, using electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and new tobacco products are identified, reminded, and monitored with persistence, standards, and humanity.
The Deputy Minister requested hospitals to do it honestly, to do it evenly, to do it with responsibility and compassion.
No smoke in medical facilities is not for taking exams, not for reporting, but to protect the health of patients and medical staff every day. There is no vacant area, no exceptions, no leniency in the implementation of regulations. Smokers need to be reminded, but also need to be advised, supported and accompanied to quit smoking" - the Deputy Minister said.
According to Dr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control Fund, Co-Head of the Organizing Committee of the contest, Vietnam currently has a widespread health system with more than 1,700 public hospitals, 424 private hospitals, and tens of thousands of private clinics.
Each year, this system of medical examination and treatment facilities receives an average of nearly 20 million inpatient and outpatient visits.
With such a dense concentration, maintaining a healthy and smoke-free environment is an important task of medical facilities to reduce the risk of passive smoke exposure for medical staff and people coming for examination and treatment....
With the goal of strengthening the implementation of smoke-free environments in accordance with the Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control, in 2025, the 1st "Non-smoke medical facility" contest was successfully organized and is one of the practical activities contributing to minimizing the harms to people's health, affecting the economy and society caused by tobacco.
The contest does not only stop at propagating the regulation on smoking ban in medical facilities, but also records many creative, specific and practical ways of doing things of hospitals and medical examination and treatment facilities," said Dr. Ha Anh Duc.
The Organizing Committee encourages units to apply information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital camera systems to eliminate all "smoke dens", turning hospitals into an absolutely healthy environment.
According to the Organizing Committee, the contestants for the 2nd Non-Tobacco Smoke Medical Facility Contest are public and private hospitals/institutes with a scale of 100 or more beds nationwide, regardless of public or private sectors, ministerial or local hospitals.
