In 09, about 300 million smokers in China consumed an astounding 2.3 billion cigarettes smoked more than the number in the first four tobacco consumption next country Indonesia, Japan, Russia and the United-States-combined. The Health Check is huge as well: Tobacco causes about 1 million deaths in China each year, including 100,000 deaths attributed to secondhand smoke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). If smoking is not reduced, WHO warns, the number of China's death toll could reach 3 million annually by 2050.
capital of the nation, Beijing is to take this message to heart deterrent. On November 28, the Beijing municipal government adopted a ban on smoking in all public indoor places, "without faults and without exemptions," sang Bernhard Schwartländer, the WHO representative in China, in a press release. The new law will take effect on 1 June 2015.
And Schwartländer called "a leap forward on Tobacco Control" is in the works. Last week, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council China released a draft national law against smoking that would make all the interior and some public outdoor places without smoke ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and require graphic warnings on packets cigarettes. observers expect that national law will be adopted next year.
the bans will face resistance inveterate smokers, and enforcement remains an issue opened. in the runup to the Beijing 08 Olympics, the city banned smoking in taxis, arenas, museums, government buildings, parks and restaurants. Shanghai has followed the lead of the tobacco regulation focused on universal Exhibition of 2010. But the application was half. The politically powerful China National Tobacco Corporation, a state-owned with a virtual monopoly, has resisted checks, and taxes on tobacco sales help fill government coffers. The authorities were torn between promoting public health and custody of public funds.
This time could be different. previous laws were weak, "and it is difficult to apply a weak law," said Angela Pratt, who heads the Initiative without the WHO Tobacco in China. Beijing's new law has teeth, including severe fines for the heads of companies that do not comply, she said. in addition, she said, the Beijing government has "a strong commitment ... to fight against a problem that now has a very negative impact on the health of its citizens. "
another important factor that could help achieve the ban is a" culture change "in attitudes to smoking, said Xiao Shuiyuan, a public health specialist at the University of South Central in Changsha. " people, including senior officials, are finally recognizing the damage [caused by] tobacco use, not only for human health but also to the image of the country and their cities, "he said . the number of smokers appears to be declining in cosmopolitan cities like Beijing and Shanghai, he said. but that enlightenment has not penetrated rural China, he said.
However, the "Beijing smoke without law is a major victory for public health in China," Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, said in a statement. Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates and others have funded research and anti-smoking campaigns of public education in China.
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