Chinese Health Minister Says Doctors Must Quit Smoking

Peer pressure is one of the biggest motivations for people to quit smoking

The Chinese government is coming down heavy on its doctors and telling them that they have to quit smoking so that they can set a good example to the millions of Chinese people who smoke. More than 50 percent of the male doctors in China smoke and this is seen by many people as a sign that smoking isn’t really that bad for you.

China has a growing smoking problem with about 320 million smokers. China produces more cigarettes than any other nation in the world and is a paradise for cigarette manufacturers who are allowed to advertise tobacco and promote them ruthlessly throughout the country. Chinese cigarettes are also extremely cheap.

The Health Minister of China Mr. Chen Zhu said that people who work in the medical profession should be seizing the lead and encouraging their patients to quit.  He also said that they should ban smoking inside their clinics as this would send a clear message to people who “look up to them”.

The statistics regarding smoking which come from the China Preventive Medicine Association show that 57 percent of male doctors in China are smokers and this is more then any other country. The Health Minister said that it had been seen internationally that when doctors quit smoking and warned about the dangers of smoking other people are encouraged to quit too.

Peer pressure is one of the biggest motivations for people to quit smoking. If everybody else is smoking it is extremely difficult for you to quit and the last thing you want is to see your doctor, (who is meant to be advising you on your health), lighting up in front of you. Doctors must practice what they preach and if they are going to continue to smoke they will be responsible for many other men and women deciding not to quit.