Chinese Smokers Face High Fines

The WHO blames the Chinese authorities for the failure of the global anti-smoking campaign. According to the report of the Chinese Healthcare ministry, one million people die in China of diseases caused by smoking annually. The total number of smokers in China is 350 million people which is almost twice the number of the population of Russia, and three times as many as the population of Mexico. China is also the global leader in terms of the number of passive smokers, whose number exceeds 700 million people. The anti-tobacco campaign has been on for more than a year in China. Smoking is restricted in public places and those who break the rules face high fines. But the campaign is very inefficient. By the way, in the 17th century China also fought smokers – in those times they were simply beheaded. The WHO forecasts that by 2025 annually 3 million people will die in China of diseases caused by smoking. The explanation is simple – despite the economic boom China is still a developing country, first of all in terms of level of living and people’s attitude towards their health, the general director of the Tabakprom association of tobacco producers Vadim Zhelnin says. "By analogy with North and South Koreas, the German Democratic Republic and Western Germany, we now have a new pair which is China and one of its parts - Taiwan. These countries are ethnically similar and have the same history. But in Taiwan the level of smoking is significantly lower than in the rest of China. The higher the level of living the lower is the level of smoking. Although there are exceptions, of course, for example - Spain." In the middle of the 20th century the situation was different. Back then Europe and the US were heavy smokers. Smoking was part of the mass culture. Cigarettes were advertised in the popular movies of that time. Moreover, in the early 20th century governments contributed to the spreading of smoking. During WWI tobacco, which reduces hunger, was included in soldiers’ packed lunches. The situation started to change in late 1980-s. Since 1990 the consumption of cigarettes in Europe has fallen by 30%. In the US and later in Europe a real anti-tobacco war began. Today the developing countries are locomotives of the tobacco industry. Thanks to them the US tobacco companies, the current global leaders, can cope relatively easily with the problems on the domestic market and even with the consequences of the global economic crisis. But despite its attractiveness the Asian market has its restrictions. China is now trying to become also a main producer not only the consumer. The experts’ general forecast for the tobacco industry is more optimistic than the forecast for smokers. In the near future tobacco production is to exceed 80 million kg a year, while the number of deaths caused by smoking will continue grow. The WHO is urging all the countries not only to join the framework of the anti-tobacco convention, but also to intensively implement its provisions.