He continued by revealing that 70% of deaths each year are caused by non-communicable diseases, of whom 40% are under 70 years old.

He attributed the fact to the unhealthy lifestyle of many Vietnamese, adding that currently 49% of Vietnamese males smoke cigarettes, and 77% of the population consumes alcohol.

The Vietnamese people also use salt two times higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), he added.

WHO Chief Representative in Vietnam LokkyWai stated that non-infectious diseases are putting a burden on the world’s economy, predicting a loss of 47 trillion USD in the next 20 years.

In Vietnam, tobacco-related diseases cause a loss of around 1 billion USD each year, he said.

He suggested the country manage these diseases well in order to reduce treatment costs, hospital overloads and economic burdens, while stressing the need to make changes in policies and management measures.

The ministry has set a target of decreasing the rate of deaths caused by non-infectious diseases to 20% by 2025.

It also aimed to reduce by 30% the number of smokers and by 10% the number of alcohol users, while cutting down the amount of salt used by 30%, controlling the rate of obesity under 15% and the rate of high blood pressure patients under 30%.

To that end, the ministry took several measures, including the making of the law on alcohol-related harm, the law on tobacco-related harm and the building of a plan to implement the national strategy on nutrition.