Fears more Thai women would turn to e-cigarettes

Foundation president Prakit Vathesatogkit said more teenage women smoke e-cigarettes as manufacturers use over 16,000 types of aroma additives, plus there is no stench from burning while the devices are beautiful and small in size that they can be easily hidden.

“According to British data in 2020, up to 10.4 per cent of 600,000 pregnant women smoke,” Prakit said, adding that this proved nicotine in e-cigarettes can make people addicted easily.

He said smoking during pregnancy could put women at risk of miscarriage or premature birth while their babies could be at risk of low weight, disability or even death.

It’s harder to convince e-cigarette smokers to kick the habit than conventional smokers due to widespread misunderstanding that e-cigarettes are less dangerous, Prakit said.

“Hence, we urge parents, teachers and media outlets to create awareness of e-cigarette dangers among children in a bid to protect them from addiction.”

Meanwhile, Sarunya Benjakul, deputy chief of Mahidol University’s Department of Health Education and Behavioural Sciences, expected more and more Thai women to take to e-cigarettes even though the number of women who presently smoke these cigarettes is low.

Citing Department of Health data last year, she explained that 34.7 per cent of Thai men smoke e-cigarettes compared to only 1.3 per cent of women.

“Among teens aged 13-17 years, 18.7 per cent of males smoke e-cigarettes compared to 8.9 per cent women,” she explained.

Separately, the National Health Security Office (NHSO) said the National Telephone Quit Smoking Centre (Quitline 1600) had helped 17 per cent of smokers to quit the habit and saved social costs by up to 10,333 baht per smoker.

NHSO secretary-general Jadet Thammathat-aree said the office aims to attract 21,400 smokers to use the Quitline 1600 service annually.

“The NHSO will cooperate with the Department of Health to evaluate the Quitline 1600 operation,” he added.