Vietnam Approves National Tobacco Harm Prevention Strategy

On May 25th, according to the Vietnamese Government Electronic Newspaper, Deputy Prime Minister Chen Honghe signed Resolution 568/QD-TTg to approve the National Tobacco Harm Prevention Strategy. The strategy aims to prevent the use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and will be effective until 2030.

Specific Strategic Objectives

The strategy outlines specific timelines and goals, aiming to reduce the smoking rate among men aged 15 and above to below 39%, and reduce the smoking rate among women aged 15 and above to below 1.4%, between the years 2023 to 2025.

In addition, the strategy proposes to decrease the proportion of tobacco smoke in different places.

The workplace must reduce occupancy to below 30%; restaurants and similar establishments to below 75%; bars, coffee shops, and the like to below 80%; and hotels and other venues to below 60%. The document also emphasizes the need to prevent the use of e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products, hookahs, and other new forms of tobacco in the community.

After achieving the goal between 2023 and 2025, the proportion will continue to decrease from 2026 to 2030.

Reduce workplace occupancy to 25% or less; limit occupancy in restaurants and similar venues to 65% or less; reduce occupancy in bars and coffee shops to 70% or less; limit occupancy in hotels and other venues to 50% or less. These measures are part of the plan designed to achieve the target.

The Vietnamese government has proposed seven solutions to achieve its strategic goals.

The government aims to improve its policies and regulations on preventing tobacco harm, and enhance the leadership of the Party and government while strengthening coordination with various departments to advance efforts in this area. Additionally, the government aims to increase awareness on tobacco harm prevention through enhanced information, education and publicity campaigns, as well as rigorous enforcement and punishment of illegal activities related to tobacco. Scientific research programs will be strengthened, and monitoring systems to prevent tobacco harm will be improved. The country will also enhance its capabilities and infrastructure regarding tobacco harm prevention through network development and international cooperation. At the specific operational level, the Vietnamese government has set five main objectives to prioritize tobacco control efforts going forward.

The strategy establishes a plan to increase the tax on tobacco products to ensure that the tax rate reaches the recommended retail price proportion by the World Health Organization by 2030. It also regulates the minimum sale price of tobacco products and researches the effectiveness of taxing tobacco products based on retail price in order to achieve the goal of reducing tobacco use. There will be restrictions and strict control on the sale of tobacco products in duty-free shops. It is proposed to issue regulations on preventing electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco, water pipes, and other new types of tobacco products in communities. In addition, Vietnam will strengthen the guidance committee for tobacco harm prevention and control at the central and provincial levels. Regulations will be developed and issued for the functions, tasks, and coordination mechanisms between the central and local departments, branches, agencies, and organizations to ensure the effective implementation of tobacco harm prevention and control. Furthermore, the sale of tobacco to minors or by minors will be restricted in accordance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.