BANGKOK, Dec 11 (TNA) – A leading hospital in Bangkok
plans to set up a network to monitor harmful effects from electronic cigarettes
and provide accurate related health information in Thailand.
Although electronic cigarettes have been banned in Thailand
since 2014 but they have been increasingly popular among young people and made
available in the black market.
Dr. Ronnachai Kongsakhol, director of Tobacco Control
Research and Knowledge Management Center (TRC) of Ramathibodi Hospital, said on
Wednesday that e-cigarette was a global public health crisis because it cause
acute and severe illnesses to users.
In only about three months from August 23 to December 7 this
year, e-cigarette led to 48 deaths and 2,291 patients worldwide, he said.
The first patient in Thailand suffered acute lung infection
and respiratory failure from smoking e-cigarette, Dr. Ronnachai said.
Without strict law enforcement, there would likely be more
patients of e-cigarette-related diseases and injuries, particularly among the
country’s young populace, Dr Ronnachai said.
The new network system would gather health information on
e-cigarette and vaping as well as associated diseases that would be useful for
diagnosis and treatment, the Center’s officials said.
The Center also revealed the result of a survey on
e-cigarette use among university students.
All of the respondents knew about e-cigarette, one third of them said
they wished to try out e-cigarette because they believed it was safer than
tobacco.
E-cigarette and vaping liquid are made available illegally
despite Thai police crackdown in recent months. (TNA)
