Tobacco control in China and the road to Healthy China 2030

Abstract

Healthy China 2030 aims to reduce the adult smoking rate from 27.7% in 2015 to 20% by 2030. Achieving this goal requires a review of the tobacco control measures introduced in China to date, the gaps that remain and the opportunities ahead. In 2008, the World Health Organization introduced six measures to reduce demand for tobacco called MPOWER. The progress China has made in implementing these measure varies: 1) monitor tobacco use and prevention policies. The surveillance on tobacco use has been rigorous, but the monitoring and evaluation of tobacco control policies needs to be strengthened; 2) protect people from tobacco use: pushes for national tobacco control legislation have stalled, but 18 subnational legislations have passed; 3) offer help to quit tobacco use. The accessibility and quality of cessation services needs to be improved; 4) warn about the dangers of tobacco. While there are no pictorial health warnings, tobacco control advocates have launched a series of anti-smoking media campaigns to inform the public; 5) enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. Legal loopholes and poor enforcement remain challenges; 6) raise taxes on tobacco: cigarettes in China are relatively cheap and increasingly affordable, which demonstrates the need for further tobacco tax increases indexed to inflation and income. China maintains a tobacco monopoly that interferes with tobacco control efforts and fails to regulate tobacco products from the public health perspective. Effective MPOWER measures, which depend upon the removal of tobacco industry interference from policymaking, are key to achieving the goal set by Healthy China 2030.

Clinical characteristics and prognosis of anal squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective audit of 144 patients from 11 cancer hospitals in southern China

“…In 2010, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention carried out the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in China and reported that smoking rate was 28.1% (52.9% of males and 2.4% of females) among Chinese adults [ 30 ]. The China Adult Tobacco Survey (CATS) in 2015 found the smoking rate was 27.7% among Chinese adults (52.1% of males and 2.7% of females), which did not change significantly from the results reported in 2010 [ 31 ]. In the current study, 75.7% included patients were female, which resulted in only 13.1% patients had a history of smoking.…”

Roles of drinking and diet in the U-shaped relationship between smoking and BMI in middle-aged and elderly Chinese rural adults

“…A hopeful sign is that China has ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control since 2005, and the Chinese tobacco epidemic has been addressed by the Chinese government although it is the owner of the largest cigarette monopoly worldwide 43 . Additionally, the government's latest healthcare plan, Healthy China 2030, has set a goal to reduce the adult smoking rate to 20% by 2030 44 . The WHO introduced six measures for tobacco control in 2008, called MPOWER: monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco use; offer help to quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and raise taxes on tobacco.…”

“…The WHO introduced six measures for tobacco control in 2008, called MPOWER: monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco use; offer help to quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and raise taxes on tobacco. Many countries have made significant progress in implementing these measures, but China still has a long way to go 44 . Furthermore, with the development of computer networks, online tobacco marketing has become a serious obstacle for tobacco control because of high volumes and wide coverage in China 45 .…”

AECOPD research in the past ten years: a bibliographic analysis based on Web of Science

“…However, these countries are significantly different from other countries in terms of tobacco control and air pollution. Especially in China, contrary to the trend of decreasing number of smokers in the United States, the number of smokers in China has increased significantly (43)(44)(45). Therefore, in this field, Chinese research should pay full attention to the impact of smoking and other risk factors on COPD patients.…”