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.
