Vietnam Health Officials Again Call for Ban on Vaping
Credit: Miro Novak
Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has again called for a ban on all new tobacco products following the publication of a study suggesting that youth vaping has led to more hospitalizations for psychosis, hallucinations or respiratory failure, reports VietnamPlus.
A recent study found that the e-cigarette smoking rate among students increased to 3.5 percent in 2021 from 2.6 percent in 2019, according to Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, an official from the Vietnam Tobacco Control Fund at the Ministry of Health.
“E-cigarette devices that look like USB drives, pen or pen boxes are making it tough for parents to detect and keep their kids from vaping,” said Nguyen Huu Hoang, a lecturer from the Medical Education Center at Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Medicine and Pharmacy. “They also make young people curious and excited by their eye-catching, fashionable and modern designs.”
In November, Vietnam’s health ministry proposed a ban on next-generation tobacco products (NGPs), reports VN Express International. The country’s current law on tobacco harm prevention lacks provisions for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.