Vientiane-Ho Chi Minh Friendship High School wins World No Tobacco Day speech competition, highlighting harms of e-cigarettes

In celebration of World No Tobacco Day 2024 and its theme of “Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference,” an inter-school speech competition was held in Vientiane. Vientiane-Ho Chi Minh Friendship High School was crowned the winner after several competitive rounds discussing ways to reduce e-cigarette use among young people, judged by a group of health officials.

The competition was jointly hosted by the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion, Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization. Topics included the dangers of e-cigarettes, the role of social media in reducing e-cigarette use, and the shared responsibility between young people and the government in ensuring a tobacco-free future.

“The youth are our future and protecting them from the dangers of e-cigarettes is critical,” said Dr Khatthanaphone Phandouangsy, the Deputy Director General of the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion, Ministry of Health. “The winning team did an excellent job in highlighting potential solutions, and the role we all must play, through thought-provoking discussion.”

“The World No Tobacco Day inter-school speech competition has been a successful platform for educating youth, promoting critical thinking, and inspiring them to become advocates for a tobacco-free future in Lao PDR.”

The winning team from Vientiane-Ho Chi Minh Friendship High School, delivered a compelling speech highlighting the unrecognized health threat of e-cigarettes, the underhanded marketing of them targeting young people, and the importance of fighting misinformation about these products.

"E-cigarettes are a sneaky threat. They're marketed online with flavors and tricks that make them seem harmless. But we researched the facts, and the truth is, they're addictive and bad for our health,” shared the winning team. “Together, we can fight the misinformation and keep e-cigarettes away from our communities."

The global market for e-cigarettes is growing rapidly, increasing from US$ 7.8 billion in 2015 to US$ 22.4 billion in 2022, with the Asia Pacific region experiencing faster growth in sales than other regions. E-cigarettes offer the most flavors among nicotine and tobacco products, many of which appeal to young people. This aggressive targeting of young people through flavors, social media marketing, and creative, toy-like designs makes e-cigarettes particularly concerning.

“The number of lives lost to tobacco and e-cigarettes must come down,” said Dr Yu Lee Park, Officer-in-Charge, World Health Organization in Lao PDR. “Young people are one of our most important groups to protect, as the tobacco industry aggressively targets them.”

“Importantly, a key focus in the competition was e-cigarettes. While Lao PDR has taken commendable action with its comprehensive ban on import, export, distribution and sale of e-cigarettes and similar products, they unfortunately remain available online and in markets. We cannot allow health-threatening products to be marketed to children, allow distributors to import or sell them, or let suppliers mislead the public with false health claims.”

"We must remain vigilant in enforcing our laws against e-cigarettes and other harmful tobacco products. Our children's health and our nation's future depend on it," emphasized Dr Khatthanaphone Phandouangsy.

E-cigarettes emit toxic substances, including carcinogens, and are associated with various health risks such as lung disorders and negative cardiovascular effects. They contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance that can adversely affect fetal development in pregnancy as well as negatively affect brain development in children and adolescents.