Campaign targets second-hand smoke

The Vietnam Women’s Union, in co-ordination with the Ministry of Health’s Vietnam Tobacco Control Fund, officially launched at a ceremony in Hanoi on Tuesday a campaign to publicize the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, according to a story in Vietnam News.

The campaign, entitled, Protect yourself and your loved ones, is the second stage of the Women make smoke-free homes program, which was launched on May 29.

The three-month campaign will use online newspapers and popular social networks, and will include the airing of three television spots based on the true story of Nguyễn Thị Hương, a non-smoking victim of lung cancer.

With the message, Smoking damages your home, the short clips are aimed at making millions of Vietnamese smokers who use social media understand the adverse effects of second-hand smoke on the health, economy and happiness of each family.

“These three TV spots are based on a true story, and through this media campaign we want to alert all smokers and those living in this unhealthy environment to the fact that any one of us can face a similar situation of loss and suffering,” said Trần Thị Hương, vice chairwoman of the Vietnam Women’s Union, at the campaign launch.

“If someone has doubts about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, please watch this story. Stop smoking today to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Hương added.

The News story said that smoking was the leading cause of lung cancer in Vietnam and that the story of Hương was not an odd one out. Non-smoking Vietnamese women accounted for 20 percent of lung cancer cases, it said, and this figure was increasing gradually.

A survey carried out last year showed that 45.3 percent of Vietnamese men were smokers, making Vietnam one of the countries with the highest cigarette prevalence.

Exposure to second-hand smoke at homes was said to be 62 percent, while in the workplace it was 42 percent and in restaurants 80 percent.