Tobacco control necessary

By Li Yang

China Daily, January 10, 2011

Tobacco-attributable deaths will continue to increase quickly, the peak will coincide with the end of China's "population bonus" period in the next 20 years. It is estimated that more than 3 million people will die of diseases attributable to smoking in China in 2030, if no effective measures are taken to change the momentum.

Moreover, tobacco companies continue to circumvent advertising and sponsorship bans. Chinese citizens still do not fully understand the personal health consequences of tobacco use, which means public education is badly needed.

Deeply engrained cultural practices such as gifting-giving of cigarettes, for example, which perpetuate tobacco use should be countered with public education campaigns that demonstrate how such behavior harms people.

People may argue that the tobacco industry pays 6 percent of the government's tax revenue and employs 20 million tobacco planters and 250,000 workers. But an integrated analysis indicates that the benefits of the industry are mitigated by tobacco-related medical expenditure and loss of productivity, which are increasing at an explosive rate.

Tax is a practical way to contain tobacco production and consumption. But according to a 2008 WHO survey, the proportion of tax in cigarette prices varies among different countries, for instance, 80 percent in the United Kingdom, 76 percent in Germany, 58 percent in Brazil, 54 percent in India and only 37 percent in China.

Yang and Hu's research suggests that even an increase of 1 yuan in the price of lower-end cigarettes would result in a tangible reduction in the number of smokers.

Any change in overall smoking demand and supply takes a long time, which provides a golden opportunity for the Chinese tobacco industry to transform its structure and redefine its role.

Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Han Qide says: "I think the stance we take in tobacco control immediately demonstrates if our development is for the people's interest or not. It is my sincere wish that the tobacco control project in China can make some breakthrough progress in the next five years."

The author is a reporter with China Daily.