Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien (blue long dress) at the award ceremony (Source: http://suckhoedoisong.vn)Cape Town (VNA) – The Health Ministry of Vietnamhas won an award of the Bloomberg Philanthropies for its efforts in monitoringtobacco use and prevention policies.
The ministry is among six winners of the BloombergPhilanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control, which were announced at aceremony in Cape Town, South Africa on March 7, as part of the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.
Receiving the award at the ceremony, Minister of HealthNguyen Thi Kim Tien delivered thanks to the World Health Organisation, the BloombergPhilanthropies and domestic and international organisations for their supportof Vietnam during the fight to control tobacco harms in particular andnon-communicable diseases in general.
The five other winners came from El Salvador, Mexico,Senegal, Uganda and Argentina.
The Vietnamese Health Ministry actively worked with other ministries,agencies and socio-political organisations to draft a law on the prevention oftobacco’s harms. The law, which has been adopted by the National Assembly, bansall smoking in indoor public space along with tobacco advertisement, promotionand sponsorship, among other stipulations.
The ministry also helped with the establishment of theVietnam Tobacco Control Fund with mandatory contributions from tobacco productionand trading companies.
A global survey revealed that the smoking rate among adultmen has dropped to 45.3 percent from the previous 47.4 percent. The rate ofpassive smoking in working places also reduced to 42.6 percent from 55.9percent, while passive smoking at home declined to 59.9 percent from theprevious 73.1 percent.-VNA
