Chinese Govt Attempts To Stop Smoking

around 1 million Chinese people die of smoking related illnesses every year

The government of China is racing ahead with ideas to prevent people from smoking and to present the image of Beijing to the world as a healthy capital where smoking is not commonplace. Beijing has been chosen to host the Olympics and many people say that this is why smoking bans in public places including all sporting venues and transport stations have been quickly implemented. Restaurants and bars have been exempted from the legislation however they have been told they must set up separate smoking areas to protect non-smokers from cigarette smoke.

China has a huge smoking problem with more than 300 million men and women practicing the habit. This represents around ¼ of the population and the figure is not declining. It is estimated that around 54 million Chinese people suffer from the effects of passive smoking and that around 1 million Chinese people die of smoking related illnesses every year.  These figures were issued by the Chinese Ministry of Health and many experts say that this official figure is much lower than the real one.

While smoking is on the decline in most developed countries, nations like China with rapidly developing economies and with millions of individuals gaining disposable incomes are now dealing with a public health problem caused by smoking. It is hoped that the smoking initiatives instituted by the Chinese government will not just be a flash in the pan to make China look good when there are visitors for the Olympics but will be the beginning of a concerted effort to reduce the number of people in China smoking.

If the Chinese government does not act soon to curtail the number of people smoking in China it will face massive health problems in the future. At Ukmedix News we have seen how governments who invest money in smoking cessation campaigns actually reap rewards when health bills for smoking related diseases start to decline.