On World No Tobacco Day 2015, the World Health Organization has honoured Beijing for its leadership in adopting a tough new tobacco control law. From 1 June, all indoor public places – and many outdoor public places – in Beijing will be required to be 100% smoke-free.
“For this year’s World No Tobacco Day, I am thrilled to be in Beijing, where from tomorrow, all indoor public places will be required by law to be 100% smoke-free,” said Dr Shin Young-soo, Regional Director for the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office.
“We applaud Beijing for its strong and determined leadership in protecting the health of its people by making public places smoke-free. We are delighted to be formally recognizing the Beijing Municipal Government with a WHO World No Tobacco Day Award,” Dr Shin said.
“What a wonderful gift you are giving to the people of Beijing – the gift of clean air indoors. And what a wonderful gift you are giving to the children of Beijing, on International Children’s Day (1 June) – the gift of air free from second-hand smoke; the gift of health,” said Dr Shin.
Beijing’s law is the strongest tobacco control legislation adopted in China to date. The Beijing law is fully compliant with Article 8 of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – and when fully implemented, will have a major impact on the health of Beijing’s many millions of residents.
“Beijing has now set the bar very high – and we now look forward to other cities around China, and the world, following Beijing’s excellent example,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China.
“We now call on all Beijingers to get behind the city health authorities’ efforts to enforce the law. All of us have a role to play! If you see someone smoking in a restaurant, tell them to stop! Talk to the manager or owner, or call the national health hotline – 12320 – to complain,” explained Dr Schwartländer.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco products. There are more than 300 million smokers in the country – with 28.1% of adults, and more than half of all adult men, regular smokers. Among 13-15 year olds, 11.2% of boys smoke. More than 1 million people die from tobacco-related illness every year – around 3000 people every day. In addition, over 700 million people are routinely exposed to second-hand smoke, which kills approximately 100,000 people every year.
About World No Tobacco Day
On 31 May every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) marks World No Tobacco Day, a day to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocate for policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death globally, currently responsible for approximately 6 million deaths each year. In China, more than one million deaths every year are caused by tobacco use.
Every year on World No Tobacco Day, WHO recognizes individuals or organizations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. This year, the Beijing Municipal Government is one of the awardees in the Western Pacific Region, for its strong smoke-free law.
The global theme for World No Tobacco Day 2015 is Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco products. The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2015 in China is ‘Smoke-free life’.
About the World Health Organization
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
For more information please contact
Ms WU Linlin
WHO China Office
E-mail: wul@who.int
Office Tel: +86 10 6532 7191