Jump to full article: Vietnam News Agency (VNA), 2008-08-10
Author: Kieu Van
Intro: Even at the National Paediatrics Hospital, where every day scores of children arrive for bronchial check-ups, many fathers can be seen smoking in the waiting room.
A recent survey conducted by the Ha Noi School of Public Health on public perceptions about smoking reported that 100 per cent of respondents said that smoking was harmful to health.
However, the school's doctor Pham Quynh Nga said only one third of the survey's respondents knew that smoking resulted in diseases for smokers and second-hand smokers.
Another survey from the Viet Nam Consumer Protection and Standards Association reported that though most people agreed to the Government's ban on smoking in public places, only 37.4 per cent agreed to the ban in crowded, open-air settings.
"The survey's results prove the community's awareness about second-hand smoking is still inadequate. Government policies to enforce the country's ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship are limited," Do Gia Phan, the association's chairman, said.
Government Decree 45 has instituted fines of between VND50,000-VND100,000 for each violation, but as it stands, very few people have actually been fined. . . .
The country's health experts have warned that 8 million Vietnamese will die from smoking-related diseases by 2010 if the number of chain smokers doesn't fall.
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