Vietnamese people spend 31,000 billion VND/year on cigarettes.

That is the figure stated in the announcement of Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien just sent to the People's Committees of provinces and cities to prepare for the National No Tobacco Week at the end of May.

The announcement said that on average in recent years, Vietnamese people spend 31,000 billion VND/year to buy cigarettes.

In addition, the total cost of treatment and losses due to loss of working capacity due to illness and premature death in five groups of tobacco-related diseases: lung cancer, upper respiratory tract cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is 23,000 billion VND/year.

According to Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, tobacco is related to many groups of diseases, but there are 25 most common groups, including the five groups mentioned above.

At K Hospital, nearly 97% of lung cancer patients smoke.

Currently, Vietnam has regulations prohibiting smoking in covered public places, train stations, airports, and prohibiting tobacco advertising and promotions, but in reality, people are still seen smoking in prohibited places, including hospitals, and there are many variations of tobacco advertising.

According to TTO