China to Make National Smoking Controlling Action Plan

It is known from the China 21st Century Smoking Controlling Strategy Symposium that China's health authorities will make a national tobacco controlling action plan to effectively reduce the health problems and economic losses brought about by smoking.

In the Tobacco or Health Action Plan (2000-2004), the west Pacific region of the World Health Organization (WHO) requires its member states, including China, to make a national action plan on controlling tobaccos by the end of next year and publish effective laws and regulations by the end of 2003, so as to stop and control the usage of tobacco.

China produces and consumes the most tobacco in the world. Sixty-three percent of the male citizens and 4 percent of the female citizens smoke, the total population exceeding 0.32 billion.

Researchers of China Prevention Medical Scientific Institute, China Medical Scientific Institute, the Oxford University of the UK, and the Cornell University of the United States used to carry out two surveys on the relationship between smoking and death, which are of the biggest scale in the world. The result shows that there are 2,000 persons die of smoking everyday in China. If the current situation goes on, there will be 8,000 persons die everyday in 2050. The total number will reach 3 million each year.

Officials who are in charge of health education of the Ministry of Health admits that smoking control in China is of great difficulty due to many factors, for example, the lack in good social environment, close relationship of national economy between tobacco production and consumption and promoting activities of branded cigarettes of transnational tobacco corporations and smuggling.

At the symposium jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Health, the WHO, China Prevention Medical Scientific Institute, and John Hopkins University of the United States, Chinese and foreign experts will discuss the features such as the strategies of smoking control in China, raising tobacco tax, juvenile's smoking, smoking control in schools, and the social losses brought about by tobacco. At the World Non-Smoking Day two days later, the organizers will hold the international rewards ballot ceremony for the contest of giving up smoking.



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