Responding to World No Tobacco Day (May 31): "Clean" from the hospital

(Baonghean) - The impact of tobacco on the health and economy of each family and the whole society is very serious.

Doctor Dau Minh Quang, Director of Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital, said: Cigarette smoke contains up to 4,000 chemicals, of which 43 are carcinogenic. Passive smokers are 21 times more at risk than direct smokers. Using tobacco can easily cause a number of dangerous diseases: sudden death, acute and chronic respiratory infections, acute and chronic otitis media, causing and worsening asthma, and slowing down lung function development. The list of diseases caused by tobacco is increasingly being discovered, including diseases that few smokers think of such as: cataracts, acute pancreatic leukemia, aortic aneurysm, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, uterine cancer, kidney cancer, increased risk of infertility for both sexes, reduced fetal development and birth defects.

Patient's family smokes in the Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital.

To prevent the harmful effects of tobacco, Vietnam has issued the Law on Prevention of Tobacco Harm, which took effect on May 1, 2013. The law stipulates many levels of punishment for violators. In order for the law to be put into practice, propaganda and information about the toxicity of tobacco have been promoted. However, for many reasons, the effectiveness of the law has not been as expected: The rate of smokers is still high, although people know very well about the harmful effects of tobacco, they still do not give up, leading to having to go to hospitals for treatment because of tobacco is common. The main reason for this is the lack of determination and synchronization from authorities as well as all people.

Tobacco users, smoking in public places in our province is still very common, many people carelessly smoke in prohibited places, even in hospitals - a special environment, where health is most affected. At the Provincial General Hospital, signs prohibiting smoking and pictures warning of the harmful effects of tobacco on health are hung a lot in the campus, hallways of examination and treatment areas as well as reminders from doctors and nurses, but there are still many patients' relatives who do not strictly comply with the no smoking in the hospital.

Even at Nghe An Oncology Hospital, the rate of lung cancer patients accounts for 60% of all types of cancer, the number of patients and their relatives "taking advantage" to go out in front of the gate, in deserted places to smoke is still very high. At Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital - the most sensitive place to cigarette smoke, smoking is not allowed, but it is not difficult to see scenes of many parents taking their children to the clinic, taking advantage of the opportunity to "take a few puffs", "carelessly" blowing smoke at the roots of trees and flower beds in the grounds of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc (Vinh City) lamented: "The children who come here for treatment are all seriously ill, their resistance is very weak, but many parents do not care, still smoke, harming their health".

Talking to some hospital leaders, we learned that the handling of smokers in hospitals is currently only at the level of warnings and recommendations. Up to now, no violators in the hospital have been punished. The hospital has no sanctions nor authority, and if there is a penalty procedure, it is very complicated when having to invite violators to the ward so that the ward police and local authorities can come to the hospital to handle it. Doctor Phan Van Dieu, Deputy Director of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, said: "The hospital has deployed to its staff about smoking prevention in hospitals, fines and reviews of individuals who violate. For relatives of pediatric patients, the hospital continuously propagates with banners, prohibition signs, loudspeakers and hospital staff also regularly remind. Therefore, smoking in hospitals is still common."

Through the reporter's investigation, there are still many doctors and nurses who are still using tobacco right in the hospital premises and private offices. The image of people working to protect and care for people's health using tobacco has created the opposite effect, reducing the effectiveness of propaganda.

It is known that in the past time, Nghe An Health sector has organized and directed units to register for emulation at the Conference of civil servants, hang "No smoking" signs in visible places, regularly establish inspection teams to evaluate and reward monthly. Although it has not ended the whole sector, it has limited widespread smoking. Many units have set up smoking areas in the unit for those who are too addicted and have not been able to quit, 4 units have completely stopped smoking such as the Endocrinology Hospital, the Nursing and Rehabilitation Hospital, the Eye Hospital, and the Oncology Hospital. Ms. Tran Thi Thu Ha, Vice President of the Nghe An Health Sector Trade Union, said: In the coming time, we will continue to promote the "Say no to tobacco" movement in medical facilities, especially hospitals. Organize the signing of agreements, have inspections and assessments, and year-end classification for individuals as well as organizations.

The work of preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco is in need of more efforts from the health sector in organizing communication campaigns on the harmful effects of tobacco, the Law on Prevention and Control of the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, providing documents and information related to the harmful effects of smoking on health, the environment and the community to units, localities, and mass media agencies to carry out propaganda work... And the more urgent task is to direct units, medical facilities, doctors and nurses to set an example in implementing the no-smoking policy in agencies and units.

Article and photos:Thanh Son