From: Viet Nam News
HCM CITY (VNS) — Vietnamese consumers must become more aware of the health dangers of illicit tobacco products, including smuggled cigarettes, experts urged at a seminar held in HCM City on Tuesday.
Organised in response to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) World No Tobacco Day 2015 on May 31, the seminar was held by Suc Khoe & Doi Song (Health & Life) newspaper in collaboration with the Viet Nam Gender Medicine Association.
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Coumarin is a toxic substance that has harmful effects on the nervous system, heart, blood vessels, liver and animals. It can also cause cancerous tumors, especially those related to male reproductive health.
The Viet Nam Ministry of Health, as well as the US Food and Drug Administration, have banned the use of coumarin in cigarettes.
According to a survey conducted by the Viet Nam Tobacco Association, more than 850 million packs of cigarettes are imported illegally into Viet Nam, of which JET & HERO brands account for 85 per cent.
Nguyen Dinh Truong, head of the Viet Nam Tobacco Economic Technical Institute, said the concentration of toxic substances, especially coumarin in smuggled cigarettes such as JET and HERO brands, was too high, causing serious danger to consumer health.
