The law on prevention and control of the harmful effects of tobacco cameinto force last May, but its enforcement leaves much to be desired.
People puffing at cigarettes are a common sight inmany public places such as bus and train stations, unwittingly breakingthe law by ignoring the no-smoking signs.
The lawprohibits smoking on buses and airplanes, as well as in indoor spaces atbus and train stations and ports, while stipulating that there must beseparate smoking areas on ships and trains.
TheGovernment’s Decree 176/2013/ND-CP imposes warnings or fines of between100,000-300,000 VND (4.7-14.2 USD) for violations of no-smoking arearegulations.
However, not many people are aware of these rules.
“Actually I do not know the details of the law and still smokeeverywhere I want, if there is a physical no-smoking sign ,” saidNguyen Anh Cuong in Hanoi .
For the transportservice sector, where 80 percent of the workforce is male, with many ofthem smokers, problems remain in enforcing the law.
Ho Huu Hoa, Deputy Director of the Legal Department under the Ministryof Transport, admitted that smoking is still rampant in many offices,stations and on public transport. On the bright side, the smoking banhas been effectively implemented at airports and during flights, showingthat this is not an impossible task.
Hoa addedthat the ministry will step up efforts in enforcing the law onprevention and control of the harmful effects of tobacco in the time tocome, including issuing detailed tasks in this field for officials insectors and advising passengers on the smoking ban.
According to Pham Hoang Anh, Country Director of HealthBridge Canadain Vietnam , tight regulations will help enforce the law effectively.She suggested such measures as defining no-smoking areas, assigningspecific tasks to management officials and publicising the rules, aswell as on-the-spot collection of fines.
The rate ofsmoking among men above 15 years old in Vietnam was more than 47percent in 2010, according to a global survey conducted in that year,making it one of the top 15 countries with the highest number of smokersin the world. The country, which has a population of 90 million, alsoreported a high rate of passive smokers, with an estimated 38 millionnon-smokers suffering from second-hand smoking at work and at home.
The health ministry reported that tobacco use causes 40,000 deaths in the country each year.-VNA
People puffing at cigarettes are a common sight inmany public places such as bus and train stations, unwittingly breakingthe law by ignoring the no-smoking signs.
The lawprohibits smoking on buses and airplanes, as well as in indoor spaces atbus and train stations and ports, while stipulating that there must beseparate smoking areas on ships and trains.
TheGovernment’s Decree 176/2013/ND-CP imposes warnings or fines of between100,000-300,000 VND (4.7-14.2 USD) for violations of no-smoking arearegulations.
However, not many people are aware of these rules.
“Actually I do not know the details of the law and still smokeeverywhere I want, if there is a physical no-smoking sign ,” saidNguyen Anh Cuong in Hanoi .
For the transportservice sector, where 80 percent of the workforce is male, with many ofthem smokers, problems remain in enforcing the law.
Ho Huu Hoa, Deputy Director of the Legal Department under the Ministryof Transport, admitted that smoking is still rampant in many offices,stations and on public transport. On the bright side, the smoking banhas been effectively implemented at airports and during flights, showingthat this is not an impossible task.
Hoa addedthat the ministry will step up efforts in enforcing the law onprevention and control of the harmful effects of tobacco in the time tocome, including issuing detailed tasks in this field for officials insectors and advising passengers on the smoking ban.
According to Pham Hoang Anh, Country Director of HealthBridge Canadain Vietnam , tight regulations will help enforce the law effectively.She suggested such measures as defining no-smoking areas, assigningspecific tasks to management officials and publicising the rules, aswell as on-the-spot collection of fines.
The rate ofsmoking among men above 15 years old in Vietnam was more than 47percent in 2010, according to a global survey conducted in that year,making it one of the top 15 countries with the highest number of smokersin the world. The country, which has a population of 90 million, alsoreported a high rate of passive smokers, with an estimated 38 millionnon-smokers suffering from second-hand smoking at work and at home.
The health ministry reported that tobacco use causes 40,000 deaths in the country each year.-VNA
