Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Vietnam worried about rising e-cigarette use among teenagers

Vietnam has recorded rising poisoning cases due to e-cigarettes and heated cigarette products.

• April 26, 2023
e-cigarettes
e-cigarettes

Vietnam has recorded rising poisoning cases due to e-cigarettes and heated cigarette products. 

The Vietnam News reported this on Wednesday.

The Health Ministry’s Medical Examination and Treatment Department noted a concerning uptake of electronic nicotine delivery and heated tobacco products among young people.

It said this after several students were admitted to the emergency room for nicotine poisoning and other harmful substances found in e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes.

“Using nicotine during adolescence can cause harm to the parts of the brain that control attention, learning ability and mood,” Nguyen Tuan Lam, an expert from the World Health Organisation in Vietnam, told Vietnam News. “It can also increase the risks of addiction to other substances in the future.”

E-cigarettes and heated cigarettes also pose potential risks and contribute to social evils, such as drug abuse and other addictive behaviours, which adversely affect the health and lifestyle of adolescents, the health ministry warned.

This is despite a slight reduction of people who smoked tobacco in 2022, down 0.8 per cent from 2015.

Vietnam is ranked third among Southeast Asian countries with the highest smoking prevalence, only after Indonesia and the Philippines, according to the health authorities.

The country is now faced with additional challenges in its fight against smoking as the prevalence of e-cigarettes among Vietnamese teens has increased in recent years among 13 to 15-year-olds.

About 3.5 per cent were reported to use e-cigarettes in 2022, up from 2.6 per cent in 2019, according to a report by the ministries of health and education.

The authorities also recorded e-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults, with about seven in 100 aged between 15 and 24 years old using e-cigarettes.

The World Health Organisation has recommended that e-cigarettes are more harmful than traditional cigarettes and can cause premature health effects or interstitial lung disease, which progresses rapidly and has a worse prognosis than lung cancer.

The health ministry last November proposed a ban on all new-generation tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

(Xinhua/NAN)

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Julian Assange

World

UK court delays WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to U.S.

American prosecutors seek to put Mr Assange on trial on 18 over WikiLeaks’ release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.

PDP

Politics

PDP directs state chairs to submit reports on anti-party activities during 2023 polls

Mr Bature directed the state chairmen to write their reports so that the PDP leadership could take appropriate action.

Kano Fire Service

States

Fire razes sheds, eight cars in Kano Municipal

He said eight sheds with carpentry equipment and eight cars were razed by the fire, while one shade and one car were slightly burnt.

Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar and Israeli President Isaac Herzog

World

Hamas leader must be captured dead or alive, Israeli president declares

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has vowed that Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar will be captured dead or alive.

Nana Akufo-Addo

Economy

Ghana seeks to speed up debt restructuring negotiations

In January, the government reached a deal in principle to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with official creditors.

POOR PEOPLE

Rights

Poverty Eradication: ActionAid canvasses comprehensive social protection programme

Andrew Mamedu, ActionAid Nigeria’s country director, made the call in a statement on Tuesday.