A meeting was held at the Hanoi National University of Education on May29 in response to World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and the 2015 National NoTobacco Week.

The education sector has implementednumerous activities on building a green and healthy learningenvironment and preventing the harmful effects of tobacco, DeputyMinister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia said.

A number of awareness-raising campaigns have been run among teachers and students, she added.

Last year, the Ministries of Education and Training; Health; PublicSecurity; Transport; and Culture, Sports and Tourism; as well as theVietnam General Confederation of Labour; the Ho Chi Minh Communist YouthUnion; and the People’s Committee of Hanoi signed commitments toimplement the Law on the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms andcreate a non-smoking working environment.

During theevent, the Departments of Education and Training in Hanoi, Bac Ninh,and Bac Giang, along with the Hanoi National University of Education,the Hanoi Medical University, the Hanoi University of Pharmacy,the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, the National College forEducation, and the Hanoi Medical College committed toimplementing the law.

According to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), smoking kills nearly 6 million people every year.More than five million of these deaths are the result of direct tobaccouse while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposedto second-hand smoke.

Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than 8 million by 2030, the WHO warned.

Nearly 80 percent of fatalities occur in low-and middle-income countries.-VNA