Any tobacco product needs to be controlled under the law, with no exceptions.
The proliferation of new generation tobacco products through smuggled, “portable” routes throughout the years is the status quo that is being concerned by the authorities and public opinion. While many scientific studies conclude that this is a harm reduction product, a better alternative for people who are smoking cigarettes, there are also many opinions calling for a careful comprehensive review to reach a conclusion.
Experts said that while the contrabandmarkethas never cooled down, the previous pilot application for some new-generation tobacco products proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the basis of consistency with the opinions of many relevant ministries and agencies is a necessary basis for a comprehensive assessment.
Is piloting the next-generation tobacco business necessary?
Vietnam currently regulates tobacco as a legal business, and has also had a Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Control since 2012 to control all tobacco products on the market.
Since the new generation of cigarettes is a technological product (only heating does not burn), the world is continuing to study the level of harm reduction compared to cigarettes, a business pilot plan before making an objective, comprehensive assessment is necessary.
Based on practical results, managers will have appropriate management policies, meeting the need to switch to alternative products to reduce harm as well as prevent adverse effects if any.
Currently, the interest in these products does not stop at the relevant ministerial levels, but also doctors, leading experts, researchers, law makers, and smokers.
At the seminar organized by Lao Dong newspaper at the end of October, there were opinions expressing support for the proposal to apply a pilot mechanism to allow the sale of harm reduction products for smokers, under the strict control of the State.
The aim is to provide a less harmful solution for those who have not or do not want to quit the most toxic tobacco products, and strict controls to prevent the group of people who have never smoked (especially teenagers) or have successfully stopped smoking.
In an interview with Lao Dong newspaper, Dr. Nguyen Hai Cong, Head of the Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Military Hospital 175, proposed that if it cannot be completely banned, a legal corridor should be built to better manage the new generation of cigarettes.
“Instead of letting go as it is now, if managed well, the new generation of cigarettes will be an alternative for those who cannot quit cigarettes who want to switch to products that are less toxic than cigarettes,” dr. Cong suggested.
Business pilots are the solution to better management
Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Ha, Chairman of SB Law, in his most recent press interview said that the promulgation of legal documents regulating new-generation cigarettes allows import and circulation in Vietnam under the strict control of the state, thereby promoting anti-smuggling, anti-counterfeiting and protecting the interests of consumers is essential.
At the seminar on the trend of approaching tobacco harm reduction solutions in Vietnam organized by VietnamPlus online newspaper in collaboration with the Vietnam General Medical Association in August, Associate Professor – Dr. Tran Van Ngoc – Vice President of Vietnam Lung Association, President of Ho Chi Minh City Respiratory Association said that “if you know about the new generation of cigarettes, you will learn about the new generation of cigarettes. to help reduce harm that can’t be provided to patients, it’s the physician’s fault.”
Associate Professor Dr. Tran Van Ngoc and Dr. Dao Van Tu , Head of On-Demand Treatment Department, Director of Clinical Research Center, K Central Hospital also cited the results of the US FDA’s research on “the use of heated tobacco can reduce the content of the main toxins in cigarettes by 80-98% and suggested that the results It can be “seen as a global guide.”
On the part of the authorities, since the first direction of the Government in the early management ofnew generation tobaccoin 2017, there are many consensus opinions of ministries and agencies, affirming that Vietnam is now ripe enough to manage this commodity.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has included the revised Decree 67 in the Government’s legal document development program from 2020 (including the definition ofe-cigarettes, heated cigarettes), but so far has not been completed and issued.
In dispatch No. 8564/VPCP-CN dated November 23, 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh also directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to soon finalize the draft amendment to the Decree and submit it to the Government for consideration.
Source:
Vietnamplus
22/11/2022 09:26 GMT+7