VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam will launch a National Non-smoking Week from May 25-31 in an effort to raise public responsibility in protecting young people from the dangers of smoking.

A meeting was held in Hanoi on May 24 by the Health Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to mark World Non-smoking Day (May 31) and the National Non-smoking Week.

To achieve the target of the National Non-smoking Week, according to a Health Ministry official, ban should be imposed on all forms of advertisement, trade promotions and sponsorship by tobacco companies in addition to the introduction of policies, such as increasing retail prices and import tax and putting a ban on selling cigarettes to under-18 people.

As part of activities in response to World Non-smoking Day, WHO and the Health Ministry have put forth measures to reduce the rate of smokers in 2008, particularly among the young.

The measures include new legal documents, new policies, community-based programmes and initiatives to increase public awareness.

A recent WHO survey showed that one person died of cigarette-related diseases every 6.5 seconds and there are about one billion smokers world-wide, 85 percent of whom inhabit in developing countries.

The survey also showed that 56 percent of men and close to 1.8 percent of women in Viet Nam are regular smokers, 31 percent of whom are young people.

The number of fatalities relating to tobacco in the country reaches 40,000 every year.

(Source: VNA)