“No Smoking Day” was held in Hanoi on May 26 to introduce the implementation of the new law on tobacco. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Treatment and Examination Management Department of the Ministry of Health, said around 22% of Vietnamese people aged between 16 and 24 smoke.

Vietnam is among the top 15 countries in the world with the highest rate of smokers. According to recent statistics, the rate of adult male smokers in Vietnam is over 48%.

Vietnam is among the top 15 countries in the world with the highest rate of smokers 

According to the World Health Organisation, around 40,000 Vietnamese people die of tobacco-related diseases each year, and the figure is expected to rise to 70,000 by 2020. In 2012, Vietnamese people spent a total VND22 trillion (USD1.05 billion) on tobacco consumption.

Vietnam’s tobacco import tax is the lowest in Southeast Asia, accounting just under 42% of the retail price, compared to 81% in Brunei, 70% in Thailand, 53% in the Philippines and 43% in Laos.

The Ministry of Health has proposed raising the special consumption tax on tobacco to 105% in the 2015-2017 period. The ministry has recommended a tax rate for tobacco of 145% for the 2018-2019 period, and which will be adjusted after 2020.

It is hoped that increased taxes will reduce the number of smokers.

Nearly six million people die of smoking-related illnesses each year worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation said.