Smoking is not only a personal business but also social problem because its danger affects the society and the victims 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
VNA
