At the first "Smokeless Medical Facilities" Contest held on December 25 by the Health and Life Newspaper in coordination with the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund (Ministry of Health), Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha emphasized: "Hospital is a place to focus on people with poor health, weakened immune system, the elderly, children and pregnant women.
They go to the hospital to regain their health, to get treatment. Exposure to secondhand smoke in hospitals not only makes their condition worse, but also goes against the most basic ethical principle of the medical profession that the founder of Hippocrates taught: "Primum non nocere" (first of all, no harm).
According to the Deputy Minister of Health, the first smoke-free medical facility competition is a solid premise, creating momentum for a more vibrant and widespread emulation movement in the following years throughout the medical system.
Dr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, Co-Head of the Organizing Committee said: Vietnam currently has a widespread health system with about 1,700 public hospitals, 406 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 people for inpatient and outpatient examination.
According to Dr. Ha Anh Duc, with such a high concentration, maintaining a clean and smoke-free environment is one of the important tasks of medical facilities to help protect the risk of exposure to secondhand smoke of all medical staff as well as people coming for medical examination and treatment as well as the health and economy caused by tobacco.
After serious Preliminary and Final rounds (including field surveys), the Jury selected the 20 most outstanding units from 300 registration applications to honor.
These are units that not only strictly comply with the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm but also have creative models, good practices in monitoring, reminding and supporting smoking cessation for patients.
