This is a vote for health; it’s especially a vote for the health of young people and their future and we warmly welcome this very courageous decision, she added.
WHO Representative in Viet Nam Dr Angela Pratt welcomed the Resolution to protect health and youth in Viet Nam and praised the leadership of Health Minister Dao Hong Lan.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan told the National Assembly on November 11 that tobacco companies made these new tobacco products appeal to children and teenagers, who were not aware of their negative effects on health.
"New nicotine and tobacco products are harmful to health and contain toxic chemicals that have been shown to cause cancer, and heart and lung disease. In the short term, they can also cause very serious, even fatal, lung injuries. For children and young people, who are targeted by the industry, they can seriously impair brain development. This Resolution will now protect youth against these harms," said Dr Pratt.
The National Assembly session closed with its release of Resolution with a comprehensive ban for the production, trading, import, storage, transportation, and use of electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes, and gases and substances that are addictive and harmful to human health, from 2025, to preserve public health, social order and safety.
Viet Nam will now proudly join a growing number of countries, currently about 40, including five countries in ASEAN -Thailand, Singapore, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia – who ban them entirely./.
Kim Anh
