%0 Journal Article %T Access to Anti-smoking Information among School Children and its Potential Impact on Preventing Smoking Initiation: Results from the Global Youth Tobacco Use Survey (GYTS) 2014 in Viet Nam %J Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention %I West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter. %Z 1513-7368 %A Minh, Hoang %A Giang, Kim Bao %A Hai, Phan Thi %A Hoang, Trinh Dinh %A Huyen, Doan Thu %A Khue, Luong Ngoc %A Linh, Nguyen Thuy %A Lam, Nguyen Tuan %A Nga, Pham Thi Quynh %D 2016 %\ 05/01/2016 %V 17 %N S1 %P 31-36 %! Access to Anti-smoking Information among School Children and its Potential Impact on Preventing Smoking Initiation: Results from the Global Youth Tobacco Use Survey (GYTS) 2014 in Viet Nam %R http://dx.doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2016.17.S1.31 %X Scientific evidence on all aspects of smoking amongst youth is very important for designing appropriateinterventions to reduce smoking among this vulnerable population. This paper describes current access to antismokinginformation among school children aged 13 to 15 years in Vietnam in 2014 and examines its potentialimpact on preventing smoking initiation. The data used in this paper were obtained from the 2014 Global YouthTobacco Survey (GYTS) in Vietnam. Students were asked questions about their level of awareness of anti-smokinginformation from various sources in the past 30 days and about lessons in school regarding the dangers of tobaccouse during the last 12 months. Those who have never smoked were asked “whether or not they thought aboutavoiding cigarettes because of health warnings on cigarette packages” and answers were analyzed in combinationwith data on access to anti-smoking information from other sources. The prevalence of exposure to antismokingcampaigns was high among school children in Viet Nam: 55.3% of current smokers reported thoughts of smokingcessation because of health warnings on cigarette packages; 60.5% of never smokers avoided initiating smokingbecause of the same health warnings. The potential impact of graphic health warnings to prevent school-agedchildren from smoking initiation would be stronger if there was concurrent access to anti-smoking programson the dangers of tobacco use in schools. However, school education for tobacco prevention and control hasnot been as strong as expected. A more comprehensive school curriculum on tobacco prevention and control isrecommended to reinforce antismoking messages among school children. %U https://journal.waocp.org/article_46051_0e2007b3705b889041efa573d516bbe9.pdf