Stronger action needed to stamp out tobacco use

The workshop examined ways to provide information on the harmful effects of tobacco and the role of tax policy in preventing and combating the harmful effects of the substance for central-level press agencies’ reporters and editors.

The WHO representative stated that although the country has made some progress in terms of combating the harmful effects of tobacco over the past decade, with current trends, it is unlikely to achieve the National Strategy on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control’s target of reducing the smoking rate among men to below 36% by 2030.

She cited the General Statistics Office’s data as saying that tobacco consumption in the nation is increasing again, with total production up by more than 10% in the 2022 to 2023 period.

According to Pratt, one of the biggest challenges is the fact that cigarettes are very cheap locally, whilst they are becoming more affordable because their prices remain the same while incomes increase.

This therefore needs to change, she stressed, adding that raising tobacco taxes is the fastest and most effective way in which to achieve this goal.

With the discussion and approval of the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended) in the near future, the WHO believes that Vietnam has a special opportunity to achieve higher goals for the benefit of people's health, she  went on to say.

Tran Thi Nhi Thuy, director general of the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Information and Communications, reported that the nation is still one of the 15 countries with the largest number of adult male smokers in the world and ranks third in the ASEAN region.

According to the law and ordinance building programme in 2025, the draft Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended) will be submitted to the National Assembly for discussion at its eighth plenary session in October and approved at the ninth one in May, 2025, Thuy added.