Tobacco tax hike could help protect mothers, children
Raising tobacco taxes could help reduce smoking and the harm it causes to women and children, experts said at a workshop held in Hanoi early this week.
Smoking is not only a personal business but also social problem because its danger af☂fects the society and the victims𒉰 are mostly women and children. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Raising tobaccotaxes could help reduce smoking and the harm it causes to women and children,experts said at a workshop held in Hanoi early this week.
With the theme of “Impact of IncreasingTobacco Taxes on Mothers’ and Children’s Health”, the workshop gatheredrepresentatives from ministries, institutions, National Assembly agencies,policy makers, and people working in the medical, gender equality anddevelopment fields.
Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer inVietnam, and passive smoking mostly affects women and children.
Smoking costs money that could be spent onfood, education and medical treatment, especially among poor families. This isa matter of gender equality, said Tran Thi Huong, Vice President of the VietnamWomen’s Union.
“Over the pass few years, the Women’s Unionhas been working on a campaign themed ‘Women Build Smoke-Free Homes’ to enhancewomen’s understanding of the harms of smoking.”
Experts provided the latest data on theaffects of smoking on women and children regarding health, economics and genderequality.
They also discussed the importance ofincreasing the special consumption tax on cigarettes to reduce the harm ofsmoking and passive smoking.
Phan Thi Hai, Deputy Director of the VietnamTobacco Control Fund (VNTCF), presented a proposal to increase tobacco taxesbased on findings from the WHO and VNTCF.
Under the proposal, 5,000 VND will be addedto the current tax on every pack of cigarettes from 2020. This is forecast tocut the smoking rate among men by 6.5 percent and prevent 900,000 early deathsin compliance with the Government’s goal.
“We know that significantly increasingtobacco taxes is a proven effective strategy to reduce smoking and can helpprotect women and children from exposure to harmful second-hand smoke,” saidBetsy Fuller from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Tom Carroll, senior advisor in policy,advocacy and communications at Vital Strategies, a global public healthaccelerator, provided a quick evaluation of the proposed tax hike, saying “mostpeople who were asked strongly support increasing the tobacco tax to reducesmoking as well as its bad effects and burden in order to protect the health ofmothers and children”.-VNA
Although progress has been made in tobacco control, more efforts are needed on anti-tobacco measures and reduction of deaths related to smoking in Vietnam.
Support hotlines have been set up and a tax hike has been mooted to tackle smoking in Vietnam, where more than 100 people are killed by smoking-related diseases per day.
A set of anti-smoking postal stamps was jointly issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Health at a ceremony in Hanoi on May 31.
Smoking has created an economic burden to not only smokers and their families but also society, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien at a meeting held in response to the World No Tobacco Day in Hanoi on May 31.
Vietnam’s Health Ministry and the Fund for the Prevention of Tobacco Harms on June 26 held a meeting of the tobacco control working group, gathering representatives from key tobacco control organisations in Vietnam and its development partners.
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In recent years, with strong support from the Party and State, and building on its tradition as a heroic news agency, the VNA has not only actively participated in OANA but also proactively proposed various ideas for cooperation, helping shape a fresh image of effective media collaboration in the digital era, said VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang.
