16 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 15, 2019 http://www.bjreview.com
COVER STORY
I
n a recent video, two men are sitting in a
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smoking. One of them says to the camera,
“Who dares smoke at the Palace Museum? Who
dares?” Posted online on July 19, the clip went
viral.
There has been a carpet smoking ban
at the historic landmark since May 18, 2013,
to protect it from fire risks. The two visitors’
behavior received both angry replies from ne-
tizens and criticism from relevant government
departments. They, and the person who shot
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police.
“We strongly condemn such behavior,”
said Mao Qun’an, Director of the Planning
Department of the National Health Commission
(NHC), at a press conference on China’s tobacco
control action plan held on July 20, noting that
banning smoking, especially at cultural heritage
sites and other important locations, concerns
people’s health and the sites’ safety.
Cutting at the source
Implementing tobacco control is one of the 15
main campaigns detailed in the Healthy China
Action Plan for 2019-30 issued by the State
Council, China’s cabinet, on July 15. The docu-
ment says the proportion of the population
protected by comprehensive smoke-free regu-
lations should reach 30 percent by 2022 and
80 percent by 2030.
To achieve this goal, a range of actions
have been taken, according to Mao. Non-
smokers are urged to neither start smoking
nor be exposed to secondhand smoke. Stores
are prohibited from selling tobacco products
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punished; and smoking scenes are restricted in
movies and television programs.
For smokers, they are encouraged to abide
by non-smoking area rules or quit smoking al-
together for the sake of their and others’ health.
Supervision and law enforcement are strength-ened in public areas; tobacco control education
is enhanced to raise people’s awareness of the
dangers of tobacco; the system for quitting
smoking is improved; and medical and health
institutions at all levels are required to offer vari-
ous ways to assist people who are willing to quit
smoking. Taxation and pricing regulations are
being studied as methods of improving tobacco
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In addition, effective practices adopted by
other countries have been introduced in China,
such as setting up a hotline reminder, short-
duration smoking cessation intervention and
mobile app services.
Tobacco control has been a long-
term endeavor for China. In March 2017,
Shanghai implemented a smoking ban in
indoor public places, workplaces and pub-
lic transport, such as hotels, restaurants,
entertainment venues, hospitals, airports,
train stations and ports, as well as out-
door public areas frequented by children,KICKING THE HABIT
Tobacco control is highlighted in national agenda for health and development
By Lu Yan
A doctor gives a lesson on tobacco control to primary school students in Qinhuangdao, north China’s Hebei Province, on May 30XIN
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