Soon there will be sanctions to control electronic cigarettes

Students hospitalized due to e-cigarette poisoning.

The rate of youth using e-cigarettes has doubled.

According to the research results of the Institute of Strategy and Health Policy ( Ministry of Health ) conducted in 2020 on risky behaviors for the health of middle and high school students in Hanoi, for women and girls alone, up to 8% of women and girls smoke electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) while the rate of cigarette smoking in women is only 1.5%. E-cigarette smoking in adolescent girls, young people, and women of reproductive age will cause consequences for reproductive health and quality of the race.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen - Director of the Poison Control Center (Bach Mai Hospital) said that almost every day the Center receives patients with E-cigarette poisoning, including many cases of drug poisoning mixed with E-cigarettes. The patients are mostly teenagers, hospitalized with symptoms of convulsions, agitation, restlessness, hallucinations, psychosis, coma, brain damage and many other organs, leaving serious health consequences.

To date, it is estimated that there are at least 20,000 flavoring chemicals and other additives in TLĐT. These are the original substances, and when heated at different temperatures, each substance will create combustion products that are different chemicals that we cannot predict.

According to Dr. Nguyen, e-cigarettes are also believed to be the cause of a new acute disease known to humans for the first time, which is acute lung injury due to e-cigarettes. Recently, many young people with this disease have come to the Center for emergency treatment. Notably, many chemicals in e-cigarette vapor have been proven to be harmful to health, causing cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cough, asthma, myocardial infarction, vascular damage, reduced immunity, DNA damage, genetic molecules, increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. These chemicals cause diseases that are much more complicated than those in regular cigarettes and most of them are new diseases. The nicotine content in e-cigarettes is even many times higher than that of traditional cigarettes. This is nicotine in a synthetic chemical form, in the form of nicotine powder with almost pure content, prepared in a form that makes it gentle when inhaled, so users will easily inhale large amounts, quickly become poisoned and soon become addicted.

Pay attention to early warning signs

Dr. Ngo Anh Vinh - Deputy Head of the Department of Adolescent Health (National Children's Hospital) recommends early signs to recognize children using electronic cigarettes. Including: Children showing signs of abnormal health, such as respiratory symptoms: coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing because electronic cigarettes contain some substances harmful to the lungs; behavioral changes, often showing signs of anxiety, irritability, and even children tending to participate in risky behaviors.

Therefore, according to Dr. Vinh, to minimize the current problem of using electronic devices among adolescents, the role of the family is very important. Parents need to pay attention to spending time caring for, listening to their children and supervising their activities in life on the basis of respect to avoid leading to opposing behaviors due to being imposed; coordinate with the school to learn more about the activities and relationships of children to be able to detect unusual signs. When detecting unusual signs, it is necessary to contact a doctor or psychologist for early examination and treatment.

In addition, the educational role of schools is also an important factor to prevent adolescents from falling into bad habits and social evils. Specifically, educating students to be aware of addictive substances and the harmful effects of using addictive substances. Strengthening extracurricular activities to relieve stress after school hours. In addition, it is necessary to strictly manage the use of electronic cigarettes among students: sources of supply, users to avoid the risk of widespread use at school. With close coordination between parents and schools and the cooperation of society, the situation of students using electronic cigarettes will soon be eliminated from the school environment. Thereby, building a generation of healthy adolescents and becoming future factors contributing to the development of society and the country.

Tighten management of electronic cigarettes

Recently, at the meeting to report on the state management of new cigarettes, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan suggested that the drafting committee review the contents and complete them before submitting them to the Government, based on the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and the direction of the National Assembly's Social Committee on the implementation of this activity; report on the contents of the current status of use, the harmful effects of new cigarettes, the problems of new cigarette use among adolescents, the problem of handling violations, difficulties and obstacles in state management and implementation related to ministries and branches; the system of legal documents needs to clearly analyze whether the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms has taken into account these subjects and can be applied to these subjects. There must be sufficient basis to submit for promulgation a Resolution on banning the production, trading, import and advertising of new cigarettes.

Minister Dao Hong Lan also suggested that the drafting committee should seek opinions from relevant ministries and branches; the Ministry of Education and Training should supplement information related to the harmful effects of new tobacco on teenagers and students. From there, the Ministry of Health will have a basis to synthesize a report to the Government.

In October 2023, the Ministry of Health received a WHO Recommendation for the National Assembly to issue a Resolution banning the import, production, distribution and sale of nicotine products, non-nicotine electronic delivery systems and heated tobacco products, as well as banning the advertising and promotion of these products in Vietnam. Recently, WHO also sent a second petition, which updated some information on the harmful effects of new nicotine and tobacco products from the latest research. At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Health received a Letter from the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with the title: Support the policy of banning the circulation of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and shisha.

Dai Doan Ket Newspaper

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