WHO says China must take smoking threat seriously

BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) China needs comprehensive laws to reduce the number of smokers or the habit could end up killing 2.2 million Chinese a year by 2020, the World Health Organisation said today.

China is the world's largest cigarette producer and Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of about 320 million making it a magnet for multinationals and focus of international health concern.

Chinese cigarettes are also among the cheapest in the world and a packet can cost as little as 0.08 dollar.

''The death toll from diseases associated with tobacco is around one million Chinese annually, a figure that is expected to increase to 2.2 million per year by 2020 if smoking rates remain unchanged,'' the WHO's China representative, Henk Bekedam, said in a statement.

Although China in 2005 ratified the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control -- which aims to reduce tobacco consumption, including through a ban on advertising and promotion -- stronger laws are needed, Bekedam said.

''Ultimately, China needs to enact national laws that set the standard for tobacco control for the entire country and are clear, strong and enforceable,'' he said. ''Now China needs to implement comprehensive measures that will change people's behaviour and lead to fewer people smoking.'' China's Ministry of Health this week said about 100,000 Chinese die annually from diseases associated with passive smoking, while more than half a billion suffer from the smoke exhaled from cigarettes.

It said in a report that only 35 per cent of respondents to its survey were aware of the dangers of passive smoking, and suggested the government ban smoking in public places.

''Our country still does not have a dedicated law banning smoking in public places,'' the report said. ''Passing a law banning smoking in public places is an effective way to cut tobacco use.'' The government has banned smoking on public transport, but it is still allowed in many public places, such as restaurants, and it is not uncommon to see people smoking even in hospitals.

A senior official from China's State Tobacco Monopoly warned earlier this year that smoking was so pervasive in China that efforts to curb it would upset social stability -- something Bekedam acknowledged.

''Fighting tobacco is not easy, especially when there is a state monopoly on tobacco production,'' he said, ahead of tomorrow's World No Tobacco Day.

''There will always be huge opposition to tobacco control in China. Political commitment is needed across every element of the Chinese Government,'' Bekedam added.

He suggested raising tobacco taxes and banning advertising.

''Increasing tobacco taxes is a clear win-win situation for China.

Despite a fall in the number of people smoking, higher taxes mean the government's revenue will rise and there will be a fall in smoking-related health costs, diseases and deaths,'' he said.

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