Vietnam, WHO Launch Campaign to Stop Smoking at Public Places

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and the Word Lung Foundation have launched a campaign to call for participation from different agencies in a bid to stop smoking at public places in early 2010. This is a move from the government to stop the high rate of people smoking at public places which cause direct effects for others, the Cong an Nhan dan newspaper reported Monday. The government of Vietnam has banned smoking at public places since 2005; however, numbers of smokers in community have accounted for 55.9% in state agencies, 55.6% in high schools and 54.3% in public transport. Up to 56% of Vietnamese men smoke daily while 92% of surrounding people reportedly annoyed with smoke, a survey by the Ministry of Health showed.