There are at least 40,000 deaths caused by tobacco-related diseases in Vietnam each year, heard a conference held by the Health Ministry in Hanoi on December 12 to review 10-year enforcement of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm.

The common characteristic of new-generation drug poisoning cases is the severe conditions of patients, with symptoms of convulsions, hallucinations, uncontrollable behaviors, and damage to the brain and other organs.

New-generation cigarette products have a variety of designs and flavors, leading to rapid popularity among youth, especially students.

Many experts have suggested establishing a legal framework to control new-generation tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, and prohibit their use among students.

Vietnam has the 15th largest population of smokers in the world, and approximately 40,000 people die each year from diseases caused by smoking.

Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam Angela Pratt has called on the country to raise tobacco tax and prices, which are still among the world’s lowest.

Vietnam is striving to reduce the rate of tobacco use among males aged from 15 to less than 39% in the 2023 – 2025 period as set out in the freshly-approved National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control to 2030.

With loose control, the rampant sale of these cigarettes has caused bad influences on society.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has demanded enhancing communications along with examination and settlement of the purchase, sale, and trading of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, which haven’t been licensed in Vietnam.

The trading of new-generation tobacco products is popular around the world in recent years, leading to an increase in the rate of new-generation cigarette use, especially among the young.

There have been numerous incidents of students requiring emergency medical attention due to nicotine poisoning and other chemicals present in e-cigarettes and heated cigarette products.

The percentage of people aged above 15 who use e-cigarettes rose from 0.2 per cent in 2015 to 3.6 per cent in 2020.

More cases of e-cigarette poisoning have been reported.

After exchanging text messages via social media, VietNamNet’s reporter, who acted as an e-cigarette buyer, decided to meet the seller and discovered many things that made him shiver.

A workshop providing the press with information on the use of tobacco in Vietnam, challenges in minimising tobacco use and solutions to them was held by the Ministry of Information and Communications in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Twelve months is the minimum time that policy makers need to study and come up with regulations for the use of new-generation cigarettes, experts have suggested.

Under a Government decree that took effect on Sunday, anyone who sells cigarettes to the minors under 18 can be fined VND3 million to VND5 million (US$129-315).

Decree 117 states that anyone who sells cigarettes to the minors will be fined from VND3m (USD129) to VND5m.

E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) were not safe for children, adolescents or young people, and these new products targeting young people had in fact created a new generation of addicts, experts warned.