Vietnam Continues to Reject ENDS

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health rejected claims that next-generation nicotine products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes during a seminar held on Oct. 3, reports VietnamNet.

Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy director of the ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, insisted that there is no scientific evidence suggesting that e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products reduce harm or aid in quitting smoking.

Khoa emphasized that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products contain high levels of addictive nicotine and contain hazardous chemicals that can cause cancer.

He dismissed Public Health England’s finding that e-cigarettes are 95 less harmful than traditional cigarettes as a “tobacco-funded study that lacks scientific credibility.”

The smoking rate among adolescents aged 13-17 in Vietnam decreased from 5.36 percent in 2013 to 2.78 percent in 2019. For those aged 13-15, the rate of cigarette use dropped from 2.5 percent in 2014 to 1.9 percent in 2022.

However, the use of new-generation tobacco products has surged recently. A survey found that vaping among students aged 13-15 rose from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 8 percent in 2023.