Tobacco.org

Increase efforts to tighten tobacco control 

According to the data of the Chinese Ministry of Health, there are 350 million smokers on the Chinese mainland (an average of one in three individuals). The population of passive smokers is more than 540 million. What is worrying is that the number of young smokers has reached 200 million.

One million people die from tobacco-related diseases every year on the mainland, far more than deaths from AIDS, suicide and traffic accidents combined, accounting for the highest mortality worldwide.

It is alarming to find that the average age of smokers is getting younger. On the other hand, the proportion of smokers who intend to quit remains relatively low. Though tobacco advertisements are banned, disguised form of tobacco advertisements exists everywhere, and there is still a long way to go in tobacco control.

As the impact on national health is great, the Chinese government pays great attention to tobacco control efforts and has participated in the formulation of the World Health Organization "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control". . . .

We need a systematic approach in tobacco control. Tobacco-related laws must be drawn up as soon as possible. The lack of a specific anti-smoking law is one of the reasons why tobacco control work has made little progress. We should also have operational mechanisms and excellent law enforcement teams (Hong Kong has set up a Tobacco Control Office in order to enforce the smoking ban in public areas). As the anti-smoking law itself needs an operational arm for implementation, the State Council should seriously consider setting up a National Tobacco Control Office to do the job.

In addition, "anti-smoking" education for all must be started from primary and secondary school . . . .

This is not just an anti-smoking campaign. This is a "war" we cannot lose.

In order to protect people's health as well as our next generation from being controlled by tobacco, we must say no to smoking.

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