Tobacco.org

Capital police seize smuggled tobacco 

Capital police on Tuesday seized more than 18,000 smuggled packets of cigarettes that had been stored and sold by an individual in Nguyen Sieu Street in Ha Noi.

Nguyen Thi Thoa, 45, was found to have sold 5,800 smuggled packets of cigarettes at her shop

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Smoking ban still not enforced 

The head of the Health Examination Inspection Bureau, Luu Cong Hong, talks to Dai Doan Ket (Great Solidarity) newspaper about the recently passed ban on smoking in public places.

No one has been fined. A guideline circular on how to punish people who smoke in public places has not yet been issued though the Government decision was already in place. A shortage of staff has also made it difficult to enforce the law. The problem is compounded by the fact that there is insufficient awareness about the smoking ban. It is impossible to punish smokers if we cannot catch them in the act.

A series of other difficulties have also arisen. There is the distinct possibility that those who break the law will refuse to pay the fine at the State Treasury.

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• Tax increase an optimum tobacco control measure 

In a report titled “Questions and Answers on Tobacco Taxation in Vietnam” released on March 9, WHO Vietnam said there are no harmful consequences of a tobacco tax increase.

It is unlikely that many people will change to cheaper brands or water-pipe tobacco because the cigarette is largely a brand-loyalty product and substitution happens mostly when the price becomes prohibitively costly, the United Nations agency said.

At the moment the prices of cigarettes are cheap compared to the increased income and have become more and more affordable. Meanwhile, there is also a clear trend of people switching from water-pipe to cigarettes in recent years, the WHO said.

An increase in tobacco taxes could also influence more poor people to give up smoking because their demand is more price sensitive than that of the rich.

The move is also unlikely to affect tobacco farmers in the short and medium term as Vietnam imports about one third of tobacco leaves.

The WHO said an increase in the tobacco tax would not result in a rise in smuggling because tobacco smuggling was determined by many factors including differences in price, the taste of smokers for smuggled cigarettes, acceptance by the public of smuggled products, the strength and effectiveness of anti-smuggling actions, level of transparency and corruption in a country and the level of control on the retailers’ network.

The tax increase would bring in more revenues for the government and is also good for public health. “It is a win-win policy,” the agency said.

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New website promotes non-smoking campaign 

A website promoting non-smoking campaign was launched on Thursday at www.clickkhongthuocla.vn.

According to Ha Anh Tuan, ambassador of the Vietnam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH), the website is expected to inform young people, especially students, of the harms of smoking.

Luong Ngoc Khue, the Health Ministry’s Therapy Department chief, said Vietnam had one of the highest smoking rates in the world, with 56.1 percent of men and 1.8 percent of women being active smokers.

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• Tobacco Tax Control Project In Five Southeast Asian Countries 

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) will provide Southeast Asian policymakers with research-based evidence on improving tax systems for tobacco control in five targeted countries.

The research will be funded by a five-year US$7 million (RM23.7 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and will focus on tobacco tax control in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Director of the Bangkok-based SEATCA, Bungon Ritthiphakdee said higher taxes on tobacco led to higher prices for tobacco products, which immediately discouraged non-smokers from starting and current smokers from continuing with their harmful habit.

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• Smoking prohibition breached en masse  

“The antismoking laws [in Singapore] are enforced so strictly that I had no choice but to adhere to them,” Duy told Thanh Nien Weekly.

The price of a pack of cigarettes also made Duy think twice.

“I had to pay around US$15 for a pack of a cigarettes and a lighter in Singapore, while it costs me only VND15,000 ($0.8) to buy a pack of Craven A in Vietnam.” . . .

But nearly one week since the ban took effect, it is barely visible.

“A no-smoking sign was placed at the department dean’s office at my school,” Duy said. “But there is no sign in front of any classroom on the floor where I teach.

“My colleagues and I often go out to smoke and no one is there to monitor or fine us.”

Another teacher at Nguyen Khuyen Private High School in Tan Binh District said her male colleagues still smoked in the school’s corridors frequently.

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One week in and still nobody fined for smoking at public sites 

One week after smoking was banned in offices and public sites not one person has been fined for breaking the new rules.

The law not being implemented is coming as no surprise. Nguyen Van Truong, vice head of the Hanoi Railway Station, said: “We ask passengers at the ticket booths or waiting areas to put out cigarettes. Some of them obey while some continue smoking”.

Outside these areas, the station’s guards cannot ask people to stop smoking. The ban is announced via the station’s loudspeakers but has had little effect.

Truong said the Hanoi Railway Station has not fined anyone because there is no mechanism to impose fines. “Our staffs don’t have the right,” Truong said.

It is the same at other public sites like Giap Bat and My Dinh coach station and even in hospitals.

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Vietnam Governmrnt Fails To Curb Smoking In Public Ban 

Many Vietnemse are still smoking in public places like parks, stations and hospital despite the government's ban on smoking in public places, which supposedly took effect on January 1 this year, according to the Vietnam news agency on Friday.

Eight of 10 interviewed smokers at the Saint Paul Hospital in Hanoi said that they did not know about the ban while the other two said that they did not care about the ban and will continue to smoke.

While blowing smoke rings, one interviewer Nguyen Van Long, 43, said: "I heard about the ban but it is so cold in Vietnam now and I need to smoke".

Others also agreed with Long and continued to smoke even after informed about the ban, the Vietnam news agency said.

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• Government ban fails to curb smoking in public  

The Government's ban on smoking in public places took effect on January 1 but around the country, people can still be found smoking in parks, stations and hospitals.

Eight of 10 interviewed smokers at Saint Paul Hospital in Ha Noi said they did not know about the ban while another two said they did not care. Between blowing smoke rings, Nguyen Van Long, 43, said: "I heard about the ban, but it's cold now and I need a smoke." Others agreed with Long and kept smoking after being informed of the ban.

Nguyen Van Quan, whose son was under treatment in the hospital's Paediatric Department, exclaimed: "My son is in a terrible condition and I must smoke. If I can't smoke here then where can I?" . . .

Another obstacle to enforcing the ban was the unlicensed sale of cigarettes in public places.

"I sell 20-25 boxes of cigarette a day and so do others," claimed Nguyen Thi Trang who runs a tea stand outside Saint Paul Hospital.

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No smoking in public places from next year  

The Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide campaign to promote a smoking ban in indoor public places that will take effect in 2010.

The launching ceremony for the mass media campaign called “Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive” was jointly held by the ministry, the World Health Organization and the World Lung Foundation (WLF).

The campaign will inform millions of Vietnamese smokers about the serious health effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke on adults and children by broadcasting two ads about the issue on nationwide television channels.

“Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive” visually depicts how smoking damages vital organs of the body and can cause serious health problems, even death, in children who are exposed to cigarette smoke. . . .

In August, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed a decision to ban smoking in indoor public places, starting on January 1, 2010.

The places will include classrooms, healthcare facilities, libraries, theaters, cultural centers, public vehicles and indoor workplaces.

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• Smoking ban grows dim  

A new government decision to ban smoking in indoor public areas will be effective from January 1, 2010, but it is still unclear who will make the ban come true.

Ministry of Transport chief inspector, Nguyen Xuan Hao, said inspectors had yet to receive any instructions on how to punish smokers in public places.

Hao said a lack of traffic inspectors may cause difficulties in implementing the smoking ban.

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• Public smoking ban starts soon  

In 10 days time the ban on smoking in public spaces, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, will take effect, but many people still have no idea about the new regulation.

Le Sang from Thanh Xuan District said that smoking was a habit that formed over many years, making it impossible to quit immediately. The ban cannot take effect if it does not allow people time to quit smoking, he added.

Nguyen Van Duong, a motorbike-taxi driver at Ha Noi's Giap Bat Station, said he hadn't heard about the ban. However, he believed it would be ineffective because thousands of passengers passed through the station each day and inspectors couldn't punish everyone.

"I have been a cigarette smoker for 20 years. Cigarette addicts like me find it difficult to give up, unless we have gags over our mouths," said Duong.

Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Bich of the Viet Nam Public Health Association said that in order for the ban to be effective, all people must be informed through an organised mass media campaign and other activities held by local authorities.

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• Smoking Ban In Public Places Effective From January 1, 2010 

Beginning Jan 1, 2010, the ban on smoking in public spaces, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, will be implemented from January 1, 2010 onwards, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported Tuesday.

However, many people still have no idea about this new regulation, the news agency said.

In order for the ban to be effective, Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Bich of the Vietnam Public Health Association said that all people must be informed through an organised mass media campaign and other activities held by local authorities. . . .

The ban will prohibit smoking in classrooms, preschools, health centres, libraries, cinemas, theatres, factories, office buildings and on public transportation.

Smoking will still be permitted in sports centres, stadiums, exhibition centres, lounges, entertainment centres, restaurants, hotels and discotheques in designated smoking areas.

A provision calls for smoking to be forbidden in all public places by the end of next year.

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• Ministry of Health calls for smoking ban in public places 

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Health and the World Lung Foundation on December 18 launched a national campaign calling for a smoking ban in all public places.

This campaign includes two TV ads which will be broadcast in Vietnam for four weeks. Sandra Mullin, a representative from the World Lung Foundation, said that the images in the ads are very strong, which convey the massage that smoking and breathing cigarette smoke is fatal and especially dangerous for children.

The Hanoi Medical University in April 2009 carried out research in three provinces, Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien – Hue and Vinh Long, about the implementation of the ban of smoking in public sites like rail and bus stations, airports, hospitals, schools, theatres and restaurants. This ban was issued four years ago. . . .

The work shows that the ban is ineffective when both officials and people neglect this regulation. Restaurants and cafes have the heaviest concentration of smoke. Vietnam has a male smoking rate of 56 per cent

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Enjoying sidewalk beer and pipe tobacco in Hanoi 

Locals do not know exactly why foreign tourists like visiting the old streets. Some say because they are located in the center of the city, some say because of the 18th and 19th century French architecture. However, there is more to it. Tourists can enjoy things that are available only there. Those things are sidewalk beer and pipe tobacco. The area is rather small but always jubilant as foreign tourists and sidewalk beer shops appear almost everywhere.

Sidewalk beer shops have no tables, just some small chairs for people to sit and place their mugs and enjoy a pipe of tobacco. The pipes, usually made of bamboo or clay, typically consist of a small chamber . . .

The buzz created by the harsh tobacco and the icy crisp beer more than offsets the cold of winter in Hanoi. Moreover, while enjoying beer and tobacco on the sidewalk, tourists can discover the daily life of the residents, busy and bustling. . . .

Hanoi is getting colder and colder as winter comes and this is an ideal time to enjoy sidewalk beer together with pipe tobacco. Why not take a tour of the ancient streets and experience these exotic flavors to remember Hanoi forever?

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